New Oliver Owners Group on MeWe

[ScottyGS]

Hey Everyone,

Just an FYI to let you know that I have started an Oliver Trailer Owners Group on MeWe.   The URL is:  https://mewe.com/join/olivertrailerowners

This will be a group for Oliver Trailer Owners only.  To discuss all things Oliver related.

Hope to see you there.

Scotty

Hey Everyone....    I just want to clear a few things up regarding the MeWe group.

This group is on a separate platform from the Oliver Trailer Owners face book group.    My intent is NOT to compete with OTO on fb or to cause people to leave that group. I have renamed the MeWe group to "Oliver Trailer Owners on MeWe" to make sure there is no confusion   

Reasons for starting the group are:  * having a group that is restricted to Owners only ( a group I never would have started on fb because that would have caused a lot of confusion and problems )   * Providing a group for those that wish to reduce their presence or "addiction" to fb      * There seemed to be some interest in an Oliver group on other platforms and I figured it might be best to have people who are actually Oliver TT Owners start and run it.

We all love and are proud of our Oliver Trailers.  We are all very interested in promoting the brand and helping each other with the knowledge and work that it takes to use and maintain our trailers.   I remember the early days when owners would fall over each other in their eagerness to help.  I tell people about the time that Steve Landrum called me out of the blue and spent an hour with me on the phone trouble shooting a problem when I first got my trailer.   That's the kind of family we have and the spirit we should foster.

With regard to the MeWe platform.   From what I see... it's kind of like face book lite.   I am still new to the site but the appeal of MeWe is that (at least so far) the users don't seem to be the "product" as much as on fb, and it seems more open.   Where it goes from here.. who knows.  But as for the Oliver group it should remain as A-political and as well managed as the fb Oliver group.

I hope this clears up any of your questions.  Please join or not as you see fit. And, I look forward to sharing our Oliver passion on the Forums, the FB group and the MeWe group.

Happy Camping and Safe Travels.

Scotty

 

 

Edited November 11, 2020 by ScottyGS
additional information

[John E Davies]

Can I ask why? What can be accomplished there that is not already done here? How are spammers and obnoxious posts handled? Are there moderators? I try very hard to stay away from all social media apps. For those like me who are clueless about MeWe: .... https://www.google.com/amp/s/mashable.com/article/what-is-mewe-network-explainer.amp

Thank you.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[KountryKamper]

... 

 

Edited November 11, 2020 by KountryKamper

[Jairon]

6 hours ago, John E Davies said:

How are spammers and obnoxious posts handled? Are there moderators? I try very hard to stay away from all social media apps.

I agree. It actually irks me that the facebook group splits the community. The knowledge here is better than the sales team and the mods are top notch. I appreciate your enthusiasm but why fracture the community/knowledge base? If things like quality issues started to be censored here I'd support you 100% but for now, this place is pretty fantastic.

[Jim_Oker]

I belong to  a few "split communities"  with overlapping membership circles between forums and FB. Some  folks just  prefer the  social  media  platforms as  a single place to  go. I find the forums generally better for finding and re-referencing old threads - they are more  broadly browsable and tend to be a bit easier to  search as well.  But more  eyeballs seem to  go to  the social media platforms. That's  just  the way of it. I've read claims that  "forms are dead" which may be premature but I see why the  claim is  made.

I love the notion of MeWe - we users are not products  to  be sold  to  advertisers on that platform, unlike Facebook. Unfortunately Facebook has the lock-in  of an overwhelming  network effect  of all the existing users' friends  lists,  and the fact that that is where nearly all social media users  are. I spent July off Facebook and on MeWe, and I prefer the  design for the  most  part and the business model is frankly  what's needed to  not  have  creepy platforms whose interests are selling our attention along with data and  increasingly sophisticated  inferences about  us based on our  usage  patterns. But the hallways loudly  echo there right  now. 

[Jim_Oker]

BTW this thread prompted me to join both the  MeWe group  and the  FB group -  I  looked  through some  recent FB group  threads and there are indeed moderators there and I  didn't see any spam and not much  in the way  of drama - just one borderline interaction which  a mod quickly  tamped  down.

[Jairon]

I'd be curious to know if the Facebook Oliver mods would support recruiting people away from the facebook group and on to MeWe. If so, godspeed! 😀

[BackofBeyond]

I don't see the value. Another place to look??  Really. I agree Farcebook needs competition, but I would rather the FB group all come to this platform,  I won't go into the FB, Google, and other platforms, but as has been stated - you are the product, at least here, we have some semblance of service  - from a customer perspective. 

I appreciate the effort - I don't need another place to scan - Me -  no MeWe.

 

Update - I changed my mind - checked out and joined MEWE  - out of curiosity and being fed up with FB.  

Edited November 16, 2020 by BackofBeyond
update

[SeaDawg]

 I spend 95 per cent of my time, here. I'll look at joining, but I know nothing about mewe

 

[NCeagle]

I worked in the information security industry before retiring a few years ago and Facebook still has a long way to go before they regain my confidence in their information security and data privacy policies.  MeWe is very similar and and a newcomer to rival FaceBook.  I'll wait and see quite a while before joining.  I'm sticking to this forum.  This is the only forum I have ever joined in my life (so far) because I see great value in the honesty and helpful tips everyone provides.  I'm going to remain an "internet introvert".  🙂

[2008RN]

8 hours ago, NCeagle said:

I worked in the information security industry before retiring a few years ago and Facebook still has a long way to go before they regain my confidence in their information security and data privacy policies.  MeWe is very similar and and a newcomer to rival FaceBook.  I'll wait and see quite a while before joining.  I'm sticking to this forum.  This is the only forum I have ever joined in my life (so far) because I see great value in the honesty and helpful tips everyone provides.  I'm going to remain an "internet introvert".  🙂

I totally agree, I used to be in the information security business with IBM.  After 10 years of avoiding Facebook (after IBM), I finally had to join so I could get information being shared for work.  I use it for work only, I do not post, and I have a very restrictive account. I don't friend people, infact some of the crap facebook sends me just pisses me off.  (Ok off my high Horse).  I know that Oliver just like any other business with a web present is not secure.   I will be staying here only for my Oliver information.  I like this web site. It is friendly, full of knowledge, and supported by an honest business.  I love the "internet introvert" comment. 

Edited November 12, 2020 by 2008RN

[NCeagle]

1 hour ago, 2008RN said:

I totally agree, I used to be in the information security business with IBM.  After 10 years of avoiding Facebook (after IBM), I finally had to join so I could get information being shared for work.  I use it for work only, I do not post, and I have a very restrictive account. I don't friend people, infact some of the crap facebook sends me just pisses me off.  (Ok off my high Horse).  I know that Oliver just like any other business with a web present is not secure.   I will be staying here only for my Oliver information.  I like this web site. It is friendly, full of knowledge, and supported by an honest business.  I love the "internet introvert" comment. 

I was with Cisco.  I have lots of other colleagues in the industry who also will not use Facebook due to it's history of abuse of peoples private data.  They were often used as an example of how to put your business at great risk by ignoring data privacy policies and best practices.  I also have a Facebook account where I don't friend anyone, I don't post anything and I use it just for the MarketPlace - which I do find some value in from time to time.  I like that if I google my name it still doesn't find this site (yet).  🙂

[GraniteStaters]

David and I use both the current groups, the FB page and this forum. We have found both to be civil and helpful. I doubt that I will want to add a third place to check for Oliver info.  FB, as much as it drives me crazy at times, is the only  platform for some important (to me) groups I belong to. I read through the link John Davies provided about MeWe and there wasn't anything that made me want to switch. As far as having a group that is ONLY for Oliver owners I can see the appeal  but before we ordered The Swallow we got lots of good info from both the FB group and the forum. I think there is value in being willing to answer questions from prospective buyers. One other thing, on the FB group you often see postings from Oliver employees jumping in to answer questions. OK, diatribe over! 🙂. Paula

[ScottyGS]

Again...   Not trying to compete... draw people away... split... from either the FB group or this forum.    I see the different groups as having different aspects / strengths.   The forums are awesome and I have received a LOT of help here, and given some back.  The FB group is fun and has helped me to keep in touch with Oliver friends both old and new.  The MeWe group is new so it remains to be seen, but I think it might be a good place for discussions for the Oliver OWNERS Community only. 

As to the moderation of the mewe group, people you know and trust are involved in the moderation.   I plan to be active on all three platforms for as long as I own my Oliver.   If mewe is not your cup of tea.. I understand.   If you are judging mewe from the google article that John posted, I am not finding that to be representative of what I see on mewe.  

So, best wishes to everyone.  Safe Travels.  Happy Camping.

Scotty

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by ScottyGS

[Jairon]

3 minutes ago, ScottyGS said:

Again...   Not trying to compete... draw people away... split... from either the FB group or this forum.

You're all good, Scotty. I was just bringing it up because I'm basically locked out of the Facebook group because I'll never create an account there and thus never have access to Oliver information posted there. That is my problem, not yours. 😁 -Another internet introvert from IT

[Jim_Oker]

29 minutes ago, ScottyGS said:

If you are judging mewe from the google article that John posted, I am not finding that to be representative of what I see on mewe.  

One critical  different between MeWe and Facebook I see that I see, and that  the google article did not address, is on business model. Facebook's customers are their advertisers and others who buy data about users/members.  Our attention and Facebook's surprisingly detailed and accurate inferences  about  us* are the product that  Facebook  sells. On  MeWe, we are the customers - they commit not to sell  our attention or data about our  usage of the  platform. They  have taken a bet that they  can convert enough users to their premium  subscription  service to make a go of it. It's  going  to be a tough road ahead  for  them frankly,  though recent political fun may  help them a bit in the near term. If you want to see how Facebook's  business model impacts the nature of  the  experience  along with your  privacy (or utter lack therof)  there, watch  The Social Dilemma on Netflix (the  interviews  are great, the "dramatizations"  a bit corny) or check out  the Social  Dilemma web site. I would not be shocked if MeWe has *security* issues  that may negatively  impact  users andn their privacy, but they do not  have fundamental  business model issues  in terms  of seeking to  exploit intimate knowledge of your  social  media  activity for profit, at least afaik.

*e.g. see this article on 2013 work from a former colleague of mine who  worked with a team  to  show that your "likes"  on  Facebook can  be mined via machine learning to predict things like your  sexual orientation,  your  food preferences, etc. This article goes into  a bit more  detail on this work,  and how it led to the Cambridge Analytica use of Facebook data and inferences  built atop it  during the  2016 election (whether this constituted a "data  breach"  or privacy  violation  is hotly debated - you  can  make your  own  decision as a potential  Facebook user 🙂 )

Edited November 12, 2020 by Jim_Oker

[KountryKamper]

On 11/11/2020 at 3:20 PM, Jairon said:

I'd be curious to know if the Facebook Oliver mods would support recruiting people away from the facebook group and on to MeWe. If so, godspeed! 😀

Nope. 😉

I was not going to reply to this because we have never pushed or even mentioned the FB page on the forum that I know of but feel I should say something. We have never intended to try to draw people away from the forum or anywhere else. We feel the FB group compliments the forum. People are constantly referred to the forum for additional information. FB definitely has its faults but is not a reflection of the FB Oliver Owners Group. It is not like most other FB groups and all members are screened before allowing them in. Not that a non owner or perspective owner could not get in but a lot of work is done by the moderators to make sure it is kept for just Oliver owners and prospective owners and about Oliver trailers. We decline a lot more people than we approve and are always on guard and remove anyone suspicious. All 5 of the moderators are also Oliver owners. 

Edited November 13, 2020 by KountryKamper

[SeaDawg]

I belong to several closed fb groups. On all of them, the mods do a great job. Like you, kountrykamper.

There is still the "tracking" that fb corporate has, as part of its business plan, that keeps many of us from being very active on fb.

[Overland]

The Facebook group was definitely promoted a few times here when it was first started, but was met with pretty much the same responses as above. Personally, I think Facebook is the worst thing about the internet. It’s essentially anti-internet in both its conception and implementation. Further, their resistance to policing disinformation, collection and selling of personal data, and inherent involvement in related political issues makes them in my mind something to actively oppose.  Likewise, I see no benefit to a similar competitor other than the possibility that it might drain some of facebook’s appeal and power. 

[Mainiac]

If there is info, that I should know, on MeWe please let me know. Do not think I will be checking the weewee.

Edited November 13, 2020 by Mainiac

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 11/11/2020 at 12:55 PM, Jim_Oker said:

BTW this thread prompted me to join both the  MeWe group  and the  FB group -  I  looked  through some  recent FB group  threads and there are indeed moderators there and I  didn't see any spam and not much  in the way  of drama - just one borderline interaction which  a mod quickly  tamped  down.

I agree.  The biggest downside to multiple methods of sharing with other Oliver owners, for me anyway, is trying to remember : did I see that on the FB group or was it the forum?  I feel the Oliver Trailer Owners group admin does a great job of keeping members on task.  However, you still have the FB platform to contend with.

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 11/11/2020 at 2:55 PM, BackofBeyond said:

I don't see the value. Another place to look??  Really. I agree Farcebook needs competition, but I would rather the FB group all come to this platform,  I won't go into the FB, Google, and other platforms, but as has been stated - you are the product, at least here, we have some semblance of service  - from a customer perspective. 

I appreciate the effort - I don't need another place to scan - Me -  no MeWe.

I agree . . . .  I have much better things to do that spend more time checking in   . . . . . one forum, email and, yes, FB are it for me.   I wouldn't use FB if it weren't that I rely on it as a way to share info will family members and a few friends.  My FB "friends" list is very short.

[rideandfly]

Here's the MeWe Bill of Rights:

https://mewe.com/privacy#bill

• You own your personal information & content. It is explicitly not ours.
• You never receive targeted third-party advertisements or targeted third-party content. We think that's creepy.
• You have full control over your newsfeed and the order of how posts appear.
• We do not manipulate, filter, or change the order of your newsfeeds. Only you can do that.
• Permissions & privacy are your rights. You control them.
• You control who can access your content.
• You can opt out of our member directory to protect your privacy.
• We do not sell your personal information to anyone.
• Your face is your business. We do not use facial recognition technology.
• You have the right to delete your account and take your content with you at any time.

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by rideandfly

[Frank C]

Just remember that despite what the MeWe privacy statement says, if they are offering a “free” site to join, you have to ask how they are paying for their expenses such as app and webpage development, server hosting costs, etc.  I’m sure any good lawyer that MeWe hired would make sure that privacy statement has plenty of loopholes for MeWe to use for their business.  We all know Facebook shares our data for targeted ads and more, and Facebook makes no secret of it anymore.   We/our data is the product that Facebook uses and sells for their income.  And Oliver hosts this forum as part of their business to support the trailer business and hopefully sell more trailers.  MeWe has to be monetizing its users somehow.  I doubt they created the site out of the goodness of their hearts.  And there are already three Oliver Facebook pages (Oliver Trailer Owners, Oliver Owners of America, and Oliver Travel Trailer for sale) plus this forum. 

Edited November 15, 2020 by FrankC

[BackofBeyond]

1 hour ago, rideandfly said:

Here's the MeWe Bill of Rights:

https://mewe.com/privacy#bill

• You own your personal information & content. It is explicitly not ours.
• You never receive targeted third-party advertisements or targeted third-party content. We think that's creepy.
• You have full control over your newsfeed and the order of how posts appear.
• We do not manipulate, filter, or change the order of your newsfeeds. Only you can do that.
• Permissions & privacy are your rights. You control them.
• You control who can access your content.
• You can opt out of our member directory to protect your privacy.
• We do not sell your personal information to anyone.
• Your face is your business. We do not use facial recognition technology.
• You have the right to delete your account and take your content with you at any time.

 

All good goals - and if the few closed groups I belong to on the other site somehow migrated to the MWE space - I would follow - but that is not in the cards.  The monopolistic tactics of the big social media is problematic enough, I regard the damage they are doing to be a much larger problem. Had the despots of history had a FB, Alphabet, a twit or two in the bag -   most of  the free world - as we know it today- would not be. course that is just my opinion. 

Knot - ha -  to get of the topic any farther, the efforts of the new upstarts to challenge is a good one - and thanks for bringing them to the forefront.

On 11/13/2020 at 3:46 PM, Overland said:

The Facebook group was definitely promoted a few times here when it was first started, but was met with pretty much the same responses as above. Personally, I think Facebook is the worst thing about the internet. It’s essentially anti-internet in both its conception and implementation. Further, their resistance to policing disinformation, collection and selling of personal data, and inherent involvement in related political issues makes them in my mind something to actively oppose.  Likewise, I see no benefit to a similar competitor other than the possibility that it might drain some of facebook’s appeal and power. 

Exactly !!

RB