I understand the thought. I am a business owner and one of the more eye opening experiences I've had in the last few years is how important social media is to get a business more exposed to potential customers. I've been involved in the beginning stages of other special interest owners groups that also have a dedicated forum and what we've found is that the effect is actually the opposite. It drives more people to participate in the forum and attracts new people which an owners group can actively encourage. None of the other forums for other interests have suffered one bit from it and I will certainly still participate here.

Some of this may be generational differences. I might be one of the younger members of this forum as I'm in my 30's. Talking to my father on the business he was completely against any effort put into social media but now will admit that its made a measurable difference to the positive. I grew up with this stuff and my teenage daughter knows more about it than I do. This is basically free advertising for Kitfox and if they want to take over the group then that's fine with me.