Long time lurker, First time poster hehe.
Just wanted to jump in and mention my thoughts re: Social Groups in 2019; they are felt not just by 4x4 clubs, but other technical/social clubs/friends/hobbyists.
But everyone's points are so spot on, I didn't quite think a site as large as this would have the same issues as other clubs...
A large social group I've been involved in for 10 years has been established for about 30 years. It's seen many changes (Originally a mailed publication if you knew how to signup....) and has several hundred members. It too used a forum for the longest time, full of history, write-ups, **** talking and most of all... people. However slowly people adapt to communicating differently, especially the younger generations to newer and newer Apps/Services. The content is no longer curated/moderated, it's free for someone to go and make their own group, add people to it and discuss whatever they need, inviting people organically as new people leave/join depending on what is discussed or how frequently. Unfortunately, this means alot of the story telling or journey can be lost, as chat is always in real time. It does however allow much better searching, but you have to know what you are looking for. "Browsing" old chat logs doesn't feel very Human-like or have the same effect as reading forums.
I love forums, always have since I was a small lad, I used them for modding the earliest video-games with people internationally and hacking modem's hardware

These days, admittedly I rarely read them unless I'm trying to solve a specific problem, but it's nice to know that some are kept up to date (Both people & the admin's keeping up with the tech)
They're bloody brilliant at 3am when you find your problem you've been searching for hours...., or some other poor bastard that happened to come across the same set of problems you did. Even more fantastic when they've posted a easy fix with a cheap tool and a clear video instructions.... (i can dream).
Anywho, my patrol's back on the road tomorrow and I've got a bunch of work to finnnnnnaly get around to pull the trigger on... and I just wanted to say thanks to everyone here (past&present), you've been very helpful

Almost makes me miss those many years on the Toyota Surf Forums.... I'll miss those guys, but I know why the ones that bought Patrol's never came back hehe
