by "ImmoralMinority" (araimondo)
Published 09/28/2017 at 22:02
by "ImmoralMinority" (araimondo)
Published 09/28/2017 at 22:02
No Tags
STARS: 4
Am I alone? I used to enjoy the Gawker blogs, from Deadspin to Gizmodo to Jalopnik to Jezebel.
Daulerio did some shitty things, but he did so with the consent and encouragement of his employer. I think Denton is the shitty one, and from what I have read, he hung Daulerio out to dry. Daulerio’s career and finances are ruined, and he paid the price more than anyone else in the parade of assholes in the Gawker lawsuit.
But in all honestly, the blogs have suffered. I am mostly limited to Jalopnik and Oppo now. The rest of it has lost its funny, snarky, not taking itself too seriously feeling, and has become a left wing echo chamber.
Even a writer like Magary on Deadspin has fallen into a weird one-upsmanship of who can invent the best insulting description for Trump. I am not a Trump fan (voted for Gary Johnson), but it is getting really boring.
I find myself reading Jalopnik, spending time on Oppo, and clicking less frequently on the rest. Am I alone?
"interstate366, now In The Industry" (interstate366)
09/28/2017 at 22:10, STARS: 1
Jalopnik for me got more and more unreadable over the course of 2016. At some point I thought “you know, I keep saying it’s getting unreadable but I keep going there”. So I stopped going there and haven’t intentionally gone back since (there’s been an accidental click or two on an FP article). I’m far from a Trump supporter, but yes, the few times i’ve visited the other sites it’s cringey.
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
09/28/2017 at 22:17, STARS: 1
Who cares. When are you coming to TN?
"Quadradeuce" (quadradeuce)
09/28/2017 at 22:17, STARS: 2
I’ve stopped reading jalopnik too. Too much talent left the site due to the lawsuit, politics started to creep in a bit too much, and the general tone was negative. My new year’s resolution was to eliminate negative influences in my life, so jalopnik had to go. And I don’t really miss it. Maybe I miss Torch.
I now follow authors I enjoy, regardless of website.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
09/28/2017 at 22:19, STARS: 0
Don’t have the energy for a more thorough response but you’re not wrong. I mean, I mostly agree. I still get an occasional good read from gizmodo or lifehacker. One in a thousand from the rest. Oppo is a great community, as good as any online community I’ve dabbled in.
"Mini Guy- Now has a 4Runner" (gavinharter30)
09/28/2017 at 22:25, STARS: 1
It’s been getting that way for me too but i still visit to catch up on news and the cotd as I’ve only been here a few months. But from what I gather, jalopniks supposed to be about car stuff, not about politics, or random stuff that doesn’t involve cars. It’s starting to get to the point where oppo is the only kinja website I get on bc of all y’all lovely folk. Bring the car stuff back jalopnik. I’m starting to lose faith
"scoob" (scoobsti)
09/28/2017 at 22:26, STARS: 1
I just skim through Jalopnik now. Occasionally I look at the shared posts roundup thing or the blog preview on top of the page. That’s pretty much it. Kinja Deals is sometimes good.
"for Michigan" (formichigan)
09/28/2017 at 22:28, STARS: 1
Never got into Deadspin, but I just have no interest in college/pro sports in general, so no surprise there. All the other sites used to have good stuff at least occasionally. I’d mostly stick to Jalopnik, Gizmodo, Kotaku, and i09, but I’d read Jezebel it Lifehacker from time to time because they’d have funny and/or interesting things in between all the other stuff.
Now I barely read the Jalopnik. There’s still usually good content to be found, but it feels buried under cross-posts and ads these days. I feel like Kinja Deals is seriously out of control. Although, once you dig through all that crap the real content has seemed a little sparse lately.
"Svend" (svend)
09/28/2017 at 22:37, STARS: 6
I’ll occasionally click around when it’s particularly slow on here.
Most are awful and designed to rile people up.
But even Jalopnik is getting ridiculous with trolls and generally people commenting with utter bollocks.
"scoob" (scoobsti)
09/28/2017 at 22:43, STARS: 1
Jalopnik has had posts about cars, planes, trains, bikes, infrastructure, and so on for years, maybe even from the beginning.
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
09/28/2017 at 22:44, STARS: 2
Not alone there
I rarely stray from oppo too
"gmporschenut also a fan of hondas" (gmporschenut)
09/28/2017 at 22:44, STARS: 0
the original content on all the blogs has seemed to decline. When I started reading jalopnik it was because i noticed they were always 2 day ahead of autoblog and had a bunch of funny articles. THis is also evident on the over reliance of cross sharing to make up for the gap.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/28/2017 at 22:51, STARS: 1
That’s me exactly, and it’s a shame.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
09/28/2017 at 23:00, STARS: 3
I thought all the gawker blogs were pretty bad, but they got even worse in the last year. I don’t think it’s the owners. It’s the hyperpolarization since the election. Denton et al were scummy and got what they deserved, but what I really lament that it’s become more and more fashionable in general to behave like an asshole in public.
"Berang" (berang)
09/28/2017 at 23:00, STARS: 1
Clickbait gets clicks, quality does not.
Jezebel has had its ups and downs, as have most of the other sites, alternating between thoughtful and insightful (or at least entertaining) or being vapid, vacuous, pandering, seeking internet ass pats. It’ll probably come around again.
There is, I have noticed, a near complete lack of peer-to-peer criticism on the whole of unigawker. Most authors seem scared shit-less of saying anything other than praise for their co-workers, even when they’ve done something obviously super shit. And the few times it has happened, it had to be played off as tongue in cheek. So the only time things change seems to be when fresh people come into the mix.
"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
09/28/2017 at 23:24, STARS: 0
There’s a reason writers leave for Hearst and Conde Nast.
"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
09/28/2017 at 23:45, STARS: 7
Oppo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, albeit less frequently. I still love Jalopnik... But they really made some terrible decisions in the last year or so. Primarily ditching so much talent. To say nothing of the more aggressive ads and cross posting from sister sites/different automotive outfits.
Maté Petrany, Jalopnik’s European writer. He always highlighted interesting differences between regional markets.
Wes Siler, who for a short period made Jalopnik the absolute best place on the web for someone interested in motorcycles. There was NO other online publication willing to do what Wes did, he wasn’t afraid to bash companies for making garbage bikes, and his adventure/backpacking articles on Indefinitelywild were wonderful and sorely missed.
Kat Callahan (sp?) who always provided interesting stories of being a gearhead from America, who lived in Japan. She also wasn’t afraid to DIY car projects. I loved every single thing she wrote about converting her awesome jdm Honda into a type R.
The guy who used to do all the fantastic military journalism... I’m killing myself for not remembering his name. He researched, fact-checked, posted his sources, etc. And was incredibly knowledgeable about the topic. He also was very good at keeping any bias out of his writing. To the point where I actually WANTED him to write about politics from time to time, just to get a well thought out piece on the current goings on. Tyler Rogoway! That’s his name!
Hell even Jack Baruth with his guest columns. He rubs a lot of people wrong but he sure knows how to write. And has tons of experience racing/teaching. Speaking of guest columns... Sharing from Oppo in general was such a great way to fill in blanks so-to-speak. Nowadays every weekend is just solid race coverage (Yay, F1/Nascar/indycar... Again) with some cross posts and maybe a weekend wallpaper.
There are still quite a few great writers on Jalopnik, but some of those above are impossible to replace.
"Shoop" (shoopdawoop993)
09/28/2017 at 23:52, STARS: 0
You all should be browsing finalchan.net
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
09/29/2017 at 00:08, STARS: 0
Jack Baruth knows how to use a thesaurus. That’s different from knowing how to write.
"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
09/29/2017 at 00:12, STARS: 0
Agree to disagree. I like a writer with a recognizable voice—which he certainly has—and his sections on Road & Track are consistently some of the most interesting reads in my opinion.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
09/29/2017 at 08:40, STARS: 0
I will say, he’s somewhat toned it down over the years, but way too often his articles are,
“Look how smart I am with these fancy words you’ve never seen before. I’m a very experienced track driver. By the way, did you know I own a Porsche 993? Now here’s a warm take on a mildly controversial topic.”
"thejustache" (thejustache)
09/29/2017 at 09:32, STARS: 0
I fully agree with your assessment. There is still some talent and the occasional good article left, but it’s spread super thin now. I’m sure this new TV show thing is only stretching things even further.