(March 1, 2023) — RVillage, a social media site for RV enthusiasts, has announced on its website that it will shut down on March 31. The closure will include the website RVillage.com, mobile apps and support functions.
The RV social network was founded approximately 10 years ago by Curtis Coleman as a “company that could very well change the face of RV travel as we know it,” he said at the time. The idea was to be an RVer’s alternative to Facebook.
Coleman sold RVillage to Togo Group in 2020, and later on it was rebranded as Roadpass Digital.
To this day, the website still boasts of “a new member every three minutes.”
Now, the company is urging its half-million members to move over to its Facebook group. Hours after the announcement, the Facebook group, with more than 64,000 members, did not mention the website shutdown or anything else about the change.
RVillage has been billed as the “internet’s largest and most active social network of RV owners, enthusiasts, dreamers, and nomads that connects people wherever they are traveling.” It’s part of a suite of leading digital apps by Roadpass Digital that provide members with end-to-end trip discovery and planning tools. Roadpass Digital’s brands also include Roadtrippers, Campendium and Togo RV.
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Very sad-so much value for RVers just shutting down. 30 days to figure out what really happened and see if somehow someone can save RVillage?!
I refuse to move to Facebook. I would never knowingly support an individual (or company) who’s desires are immacable to US interests and values.
Inimical
I’m with you…despise fb for the exact same reasons.
With Facebook you’re just wheat in the field to harvest and sell. No Facebook here.
Another story of someone’s “reach extending their grasp”. Mr. Coleman should have stayed aligned with his original vision, instead he sold out to the vested interest of corporate greed. I joined the group years ago but have never really had the time or the inclination to add it to my SM tasks. IMO, it will not be a great loss to the RV world.
Others have a different opinion.
True, but I think we all know that and have no need to be told.
Sorry that your opinion is the only one that seemed to matter. I apologize for having a different view and also apologize on behalf of the approx 504k members. May you have many unimpeded blessings in your journeys.
Will miss RVillage. Went to several of their branded events.
I already dumped them. And I don’t use Facebook. I’ll stick with RVT.
Try IRV2.com. Very well run Forums section.
Thanks, Ran. We’ll continue to try to be worthy, including doing our best to constantly improve. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Ran nailed it. I quit Facebook 2 years ago and haven’t missed it one bit. Although I’ve never participated in RVillage, I too will continue to use and enjoy RVT.
Thanks, Ttedb3. We appreciate you, and all of our other gazillion loyal readers.👍 Have a good night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Back in the day, RVillage was a fun & enjoyable place to connect with other RV’ers without the drama of Facebook. It had a real hometown feel to it. Then Curtis Coleman sold out to Togo (which I think is owned by Thor but that doesn’t matter anymore) and IMHO, the website gradually went downhill from there. Apparently, RVillage wasn’t making enough money for greedy corporate, so they’re shutting it down.
Nailed it. 👍
Exactly!
What’s RV Village?
Like a FB page for RVers. Have a great day, Rolling Coal. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
I was an original sign up and met up with RVillagers in Scottsdale several years ago. That being said, I never found the usefulness of the site.
Since then, I may have posted once or twice. The only change I’ll notice is I won’t have to delete the emails that I never got around to unsubscribing.
Thor has sucked up much of the US RV landscape. It appears that their corporate goal trends to mediocrity (and profit above all else). Why support them when there are so many other independent sites?
Cool. Please help us understand, so you were a member, never used and was too lazy, for one reason or another to unsubscribe from notifications, yet disparage? Excellent! I used to read content and would be amazed at some of the content – lots of idiosyncratic personalities there, esp. the dog owners!
I just now attempted to open my RVillage app on my phone and NOTHING. It appears they have already started deleting member info. As the saying goes “Their loss, not mine”.
The only thing I liked about RVillage was the “My Places” map. It’s the only record in a visual snap shot with pertinent info that I want. I hardly ever missed a check in. Now it’s gone, and I’ll never get it back. It’s like erasing Google Photos.
I was a gold (?) member and enjoyed it. We even met and had lunch or dinner with two different couples who live near us. Around a year ago the app became hard to use and I finally deleted it in exasperation. I am sad that it is going, but hardly surprised. We host a Boondockers Welcome (BW) site and the website has become harder to use since Harvest Hosts took over. I don’t expect things to improve for the BW side.
Not moving to Facebook! I enjoyed several of the RVillage groups, The Elks Lodge group is great and will be missed. As a Gold member of RVillage I am disappointed. I have tried the TOGO products and I give them a “Thumbs Down”.
I’ve been an RVillage member for 3 years. I loved it for the first 2 until they downgraded the app with an upgrade. I contacted them and asked if they were going to fix all the things that got screwed up, because it no longer was user friendly, and their reply was to do a phone call with me to teach me how to use it. Haha, somehow teaching me how to use it made the app more user-friendly.
It’s sad but at this point only 5% of my friends are still posting, all the others quit a year ago, so I’m not surprised it’s closing down. The app has good bones and great potential, with the right leadership it could become awesome!
Facebook page? No thanks!
If you wanted to meet other RVers, RVillage was the best. Even if you only wanted to meet other RVers with the same interests, RVillage was the best. If you wanted to go to larger group meet-ups they were offered. During the pandemic they moved to Zoom gatherings a couple times per week which was a huge help to those of us who were stranded where we didn’t want to be and lonely (thank you Chris and Gina!). But since Curtis sold it, it has gone downhill. I will miss it as I have made a lot of friends through RVillage. Now, back to contacting all those friends and giving them other ways to contact me. ☹️