Observations from a long term user of Exploroz

Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 04, 2025 at 08:45
ThreadID: 149820 Views:2792 Replies:7 FollowUps:10
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The ExplorOz forum was once a great place for off-road enthusiasts to share advice, trip reports, and technical knowledge, but it has lost its way. Instead of fostering a helpful community, it is now overrun by keyboard warriors who seem more interested in tearing others down than contributing anything useful. The constant berating of those who are not grammatically perfect or who misspell a word does not reflect a forum that should be open to all, regardless of their background. Constructive discussions have been replaced with petty arguments, and anyone asking a simple question risks being ridiculed rather than helped. What was once a hub for 4WD passion has become a battleground of egos, making it harder for genuine members and visitors to engage without fear of being attacked. If you need evidence, just look at the most-viewed and most-replied-to posts—you will see that many are off-topic and have degenerated into arguments and slanging matches.
I am sure this will be one of the posts that will get the type of responses identified above.
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Reply By: Member - LeighW - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2025 at 09:19

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2025 at 09:19
Sadly Glenn I have to agree with you.

These days I generally don't offer input for the reasons you have mentioned. Some seem to
think the forum is theirs other can't stand it if a differing opinion is given. These days I just tend to
scan the forum to see if there's anything that piques my interests then move on to friendlier grounds.

The forum owners themselves seem to use the forum as a marketing excersive for the software
and appear to have little interest in other aspects of the forum.

AnswerID: 647519

Follow Up By: Member - nick boab - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2025 at 12:50

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2025 at 12:50
Sorry can't agree with respect to owners part they have always have the same view with running of the forum . Only stepping in if they.think they need to.

Regards to them promoting there products.. this website is there business..
Cheers Nick

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Reply By: Garry L - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2025 at 19:37

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2025 at 19:37
Yep !

You just only need to check out yesterdays ThreadID: 149809 to see how it all starts !


Cheers
Gazz
AnswerID: 647523

Follow Up By: Glenn M8 - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2025 at 19:48

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2025 at 19:48
Hi Gaza
That was the Thread that lead to my post. Over the past few weeks there have been numerous occasions when the discussion has deteriorated and gone completely off topic. People may not agree with something or have various opinions but you can still be respectful. That statement will probably get responses about wokeness, let’s see what happens.
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Reply By: PeterInSa - Wednesday, Mar 05, 2025 at 18:30

Wednesday, Mar 05, 2025 at 18:30
Glenn, Still thinks its better than the WikiCamp Forum...

With little/No Supervision. Comments about problems with the latest version of the App, fill up the General and Technical section rather than the section that Deals with App Issues.

In the General and Tech section you need to wade thru the problems to get to something you maybe interested In. I think they are losing Forum members at least for the time being.

And this Forum...... everyone is entitled to there opinion and hangups, and for some, the older you get to me the less tolerant, I will read their comment and just move on.
AnswerID: 647532

Reply By: Member - Bigfish - Friday, Mar 07, 2025 at 16:16

Friday, Mar 07, 2025 at 16:16
I dont worry about it. I,ve probably got on peoples nerves and some have pissed me off. So what? No different to yacking with mates down the pub. Always something you dont agree on. Life is far too short to take it seriously. If something offends you...bad luck. You,ll be offended many times in life. No one forces anyone to participate in any forum and the world is evolving at a far greater place than many of us older farts care to admit (or understand sometimes). Owners of the site do abloody good job. No one has got a blood nose or whack in the ear from the site. The more opinions I read the more I like it . Good learning experience. Carry on chaps!!
AnswerID: 647547

Follow Up By: Member - David M (SA) - Saturday, Mar 08, 2025 at 09:19

Saturday, Mar 08, 2025 at 09:19
What really piss's me off is when someone posts the same reply twice and I get half way through the second reply before I realize I've all already read it.
Dave.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Saturday, Mar 08, 2025 at 09:25

Saturday, Mar 08, 2025 at 09:25
.
Yeah, that's a real bummer David. Takes a full 5 seconds out of your life.
Cheers
Allan

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Follow Up By: Member - David M (SA) - Saturday, Mar 08, 2025 at 11:35

Saturday, Mar 08, 2025 at 11:35
Must remember to put a Smiley at the end of my posts to indicate humour. :)
5 seconds might not be much to you Allan but at 3 score and 10 ( plus a few) it's a fair bit. :)
Dave.
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Follow Up By: Member - Bigfish - Sunday, Mar 16, 2025 at 08:45

Sunday, Mar 16, 2025 at 08:45
Sorry David M. . I accidently posted twice. I have now deleted the offending post. I,ve taken your post to heart and after long consideration I am going to contact Beyond Blue to try and overcome the depression and feeling of worthlessness I am now feeling as a result. Oh the shame!!


Sarcasm Dave....lol
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Follow Up By: John Baas - Wednesday, Mar 19, 2025 at 02:06

Wednesday, Mar 19, 2025 at 02:06
Cheer up Bigfish! You're not the only one depressed - far too often as a very elderly fart myself I have lamented phrases such as " than many of us older farts" when I think the author actually meant "than many of we older farts". :-). Cheers. JB.
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FollowupID: 928679

Follow Up By: nickb - Tuesday, Mar 25, 2025 at 19:16

Tuesday, Mar 25, 2025 at 19:16
I don't reckon it's about being offended, if an internet forum offends you then there are bigger issues!
It's more the trolling, grammar nazis, poking and prodding that detracts from the forum. Water off a duck's back to me but I imagine it would deter many from participating.
I enjoy reading about other's experiences with caravans, 12V, towbars, D shackles or whatever and usually there is something to be gained, or at least given thought to as seen through other's perspective. That is the main reason for joining these forums I would have thought. Sifting through the crap is just part of it.
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FollowupID: 928729

Reply By: Gramps - Sunday, Mar 16, 2025 at 08:38

Sunday, Mar 16, 2025 at 08:38
Good grief man! It's a thread about bloody fridges. Absolutely guaranteed to stir up the natives since time immemorial.

I did'nt notice anything particularly savage in the comments but maybe I've got a thicker skin or better bla-bla-bla deflector. I've read enough of these info sharing posts over the years and generally skim over them. There are some very knowledgeable and qualified posters in that thread if you're interested in the nitty gritty but they often become pedantic. I'm only interested in whether the fridge will keep my food/drinks cold. Whether it uses a poofteenth more power than others does'nt interest me.

Stay calm and carry on.
AnswerID: 647597

Reply By: qldcamper - Monday, Mar 24, 2025 at 08:38

Monday, Mar 24, 2025 at 08:38
Typical Facebook mentality bleeding over.
A formal training and lifetime of experience makes you a target for all the FB overnight experts to prove how good they are.
They read a lot of unvarified blogs and declare themselves an expert, then put one system together then demand God like status.
In my time you cherrished the opertunity to spend time with an aging career tradesman, even better if you got paid to do it. But today everyone that can barely read is an expert at everything.
Aggression and diversion is where they go to hide their inexperience.
AnswerID: 647630

Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Monday, Mar 24, 2025 at 09:34

Monday, Mar 24, 2025 at 09:34
.
QC referred to… "aging career tradesmen".

Ah yes, how well I remember them. By God there was a wealth of experience and wisdom there. I learned so much from them and if I failed then probably got a kick on the bum!!
Cheers
Allan

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Follow Up By: qldcamper - Monday, Mar 24, 2025 at 10:01

Monday, Mar 24, 2025 at 10:01
Even the practical jokes were educational teaching us to be aware of our environment and were a lot of fun when it was our turn to educate the young fellas before everything become illegal.
The other tradies in the workshop quickly learned you don't piss the sparkies off.
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FollowupID: 928714

Reply By: Michael W14 - Friday, Apr 25, 2025 at 18:19

Friday, Apr 25, 2025 at 18:19
Hi Glen.

I remember the great old days at Exploroz. Lots of friendly banter and advice. Then the owners said "no more banter or social chats" and we all left the site. A great pity.

Now I find myself having to join again because, although I purchased the Traveller App and although I purchased the offline maps........they say I have to pay even more so that I can get a decent number of waypoints. I wonder what the next ambush will be for !

Cheers, Jigalong.
Willie
Sydney
200 TD and Bushtracker 16'

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