To be honest, I really don't understand why Facebook killed interest in so many forums. To me, they're very different beasts. I'm not on Facebook - but even if I was, it could easily co-exist with forums. If I'm after information or really good advice on automotive content - my first port of call would always be the gmh-torana, aussie-v8, commodore forums etc.... I regard the forum world as the true Subject Matter Experts - who are genuine knowledge sharers, and it's all so organised and easy to reference... (I love structure).
I guess one part of it, is simply use-ability. Posting photos at the touch of a button etc... that's probably been the single biggest game-changer.
But anyway, it is what it is. I'm confident these current torana forums can continue living on for a long time. We've all donated some spare coin over the years, and can continue to do so. Even if there's some buggy behaviour, the fundamentals are still there.
Thinking about the long term future though, I'd be very interested to understand just what kind of costs would be involved to stand up a brand new forum (using the latest and greatest software), with appropriate hosting etc.... and even employ an expert consultant to take care of monthly patches etc, so it always remains secure and up to date. There are many willing members here more than happy to fundraise.... and I'm sure plenty of companies would be willing to chip in as sponsors too. Migrating content and users would be the big hitter. I'm not quite I.T. savvy enough myself to fully understand the back-end of all this, but I truly believe there will always be a section of the population who would rather leverage information here than on modern social media. Having spent a bit of time on the aussiev8 forums - they were just like our members here - educated, passionate car folk - full of amazing info and willing to share.... numbers dwindled over time, and eventually just a handful remained.... craving content, but just making do with very little! Perhaps long term, there could be a mega forum - bringing together all the best bits of the old school forums. Who knows.
For now - let's keep, keeping on. Hats off to you Neil for keeping us afloat, you're a true legend!