Tesla Users React To New Engagement Platform & Closure Of Forums
Tesla is drastically changing the way it fosters customer engagement on its website, with the company launching a new Tesla Engagement Hub platform while simultaneously announcing the closure of its forums. There has long-been a forums section on the Tesla website, allowing existing customers and prospective buyers to chat with each other about the company's cars, solar projects, and virtually anything else. It's part of what's allowed the Tesla community to grow as much as it has, but given its unmoderated nature, it's also not the most user-friendly experience.
There are plenty of third-party forums for Tesla fans to connect and talk with each other, but having an official destination on the Tesla website has allowed it to stand out a bit more compared to its alternatives. However, in an effort to rein in conversations a bit more and limit some of the chaos that's present in the forums, Tesla is turning to something new.
The Tesla Engagement Hub can be accessed by going to "engage.tesla.com." Once there, users can browse through a variety of topics — including upcoming events for Tesla owners clubs, contributing to disaster relief funds, and reading company update from Tesla. Anyone with a Tesla account can comment on these posts and engage with one another that way, but the user-to-user interaction is considerably more limited.
As one might expect, there are big pros and cons that come with a change like this. The Tesla Engagement Hub is much more curated than the forums ever were, and for someone that's just getting started with Tesla, it's a more welcoming experience that doesn't feel quite as chaotic. On the flip side, the decreased user interaction could have a negative impact on the camaraderie and community feel of the forums. Users can still interact with the forums like normal for the time being, but come March 15, it'll switch to a read-only state.
The response to all of this has been mixed so far. One user on the Engagement Hub said it was "Great to have this platform to tackle important issues that face us all," with others making feature request for an upvote/downvote system, chats, and more. Others are suggesting Tesla keep the forums in addition to the Engagement Hub, with the caveat that Tesla starts moderating them in some fashion. The feedback in the forums hasn't been quite as positive, with users saying it's "Too bad" and that they're "Sad to see it go."
Keeping the forums in a moderated fashion seems like a smart middle-ground for Tesla to reach, but for now, there's no sign of that happening. What's more likely is that the forums will shut down on March 15, users will have to get used to the Engagement Hub, and that'll be it.