What YouTube Analytics can tell us about Jalopnik

"GRIVLET - Proud of Cobalt" (Gr1vleT-ProudOfCOBALT)
08/06/2013 at 10:59 • Filed to: Nerdlopnik

In case you missed it, I had an article posted to the front page of Jalopnik last week titled: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Among the many interesting things that were derived from that article (including some intense, occasionally alcohol-fueled fanboyism from myself) was some interesting insight into Jalopniks audience.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Prior to being posted on Jalopnik, my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! only had 109 views. As of today it has 5,560 - which has appeared to have tapered back off to 1 view per day, which is likely just a bot trying to post advertisements touting some new weight loss drug or spanx product on my video.

Here is proof that no one actually searches for YouTube videos of people in Cobalts autocrossing:

Geography data is interesting as well, Canadians love Jalopnik too (just not very much).

I always wonder while reading posts who hails from where - sometimes the language is telling, sometimes there are references to vehicles that we don't have here in the States, sometimes people make comprehensible comments on your posts at 4 am (I also have a penchant for Jalop'ing at 4am, but it typically lacks grammatical fortitude and is fueled by Natural Ice).

DISCUSSION (20)

Forgetful > GRIVLET - Proud of Cobalt
08/06/2013 at 11:09

Apparently we Canucks love Jalopnik more per capita (we have roughly 10% of the US population last I checked). We also came in a whole 6 seconds faster which just goes to show how efficient we are.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > GRIVLET - Proud of Cobalt
08/06/2013 at 11:15

sometimes the language is telling, sometimes there are references to vehicles that we don't have here in the States, sometimes people make comprehensible comments on your posts at 4 am

All of this, this is why people sometimes get confused about where I'm from. The arbitrary Brit English, weird cars, and being no more comprehensible in reasonable hours than in the middle of the night.

Meatstick62 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/06/2013 at 11:32

I assumed you were in the US (based mostly on your love of tractors). Am I right?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Meatstick62
08/06/2013 at 11:43

You are correct. The Land-Rover thing throws some people, though, and occasionally lurches into obscure French, German, or English cars and blather on pop culture from Oz, South Korea and other places do as well.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/06/2013 at 11:51

Yeah, everyone assumes that if you live in the US you love Jeeps...

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts.
08/06/2013 at 12:12

Actually, I had a long, very involved conversation about Jeep yesterday with pauljones and Who Needs Swaybars - mostly about the problem with the modern Jeep in weight. I don't mind more traditional Jeeps at all; I prefer Landies, but I'm not overtly hostile.

As an interesting anecdote, I know someone who might be described as a natural Brit: drives a Series III he bought new, drinks tea (I believe with milk), wears very Brit styles, and comes off much like a rural north-country Brit except with a sort of Floridian accent. As far as I know, he just evolved into that state, without even any direct Brit cultural influence - very odd.

Mosqvich > GRIVLET - Proud of Cobalt
08/06/2013 at 12:15

I loved your comment:

Here is proof that no one actually searches for YouTube videos of people in Cobalts

Seriously, that is hilarious and likely very true! Actually a very nice write up and I do find the analytics pretty fascinating.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/06/2013 at 12:24

You're right that is odd.

I've run into many situations where people hadn't realize that I lived in the US due to my love of Landies. It's that or else everyone assumes that Land Rover are driven purely by soccer moms and rappers in mall parking lots.

505 - morphine not found > GRIVLET - Proud of Cobalt
08/06/2013 at 12:26

I should have watched your vid, as that would have catapulted Hungary up from last place, but being on vacation with scarce web access, i didn't. Sorry.

BTW, i too had a video posted a bit more than a year ago on the fp and it skyrocketed too, though that also means it gets much higher in the googlez listings, so it still does a bit more than 2 views per day on average - a year after the deed. That said, there's an MR2 in there, so maybe a bit more people search for those

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts.
08/06/2013 at 12:28

I spent most of Saturday welding and cutting on a firewall for my cousin's '64 IIa SWB. Which he got because he wanted one like mine ('66) and my younger brother's ('65, IIRC). My dad's workshop is Rover-swamped at the moment.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/06/2013 at 12:39

My dad's 88 IIA (67) is going to need some firewall work done soon as it is starting to rust through, also on the list is a pair of ARB lockers and a 2 inch lift on top of the parabolic springs 1 inch.

That's not mentioning his 64 109 which has been in the middle of a engine swap (300tdi) for a while now due to a slight snag, we're trying to find a place that can hot dip galvanize a 109 chassis as the current chassis is galvanized and so we can't weld the new mounts for the 300tdi.

I'm currently rewiring my D2 so that my flood/work lights on my roof rack have stock looking switches, I heard that using two cruise controle switches with light switch buttons works well. Also found a leak on the front of the engine that might be the oil pump gasket, but it's slow (only about a quart per oil change) and I did a 1200 mile road trip with it so that's for another day lol.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts.
08/06/2013 at 12:45

Something you may not have considered - you can patch galvanized finish with so-called cold galvanizing spray a hell of a lot cheaper than regalvanizing, and I have some pieces on my 88 that were sprayed and remain fine years later. The gold standard stuff is ZRC, but you can get okay stuff down at freakin' Home Depot. It's basically a polymer/acrylic that has enough zinc powder in it to form an oxide coating.

If you're within screaming distance of western NC, I'd be happy to lend a hand on the firewall stuff - pretty shortly here I'll have done 5 or 6. There's a 109 II here (one of the ones I'm doing a firewall job on that we're planning to put a Benz 300 (OM 617) turbodiesel 5 in, you might find that interesting. We've had the engine on a shelf for years - came out of a ~79ish S-class.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/06/2013 at 12:59

I'll pass that idea along thanks, I was actually thinking about doing something like that on my D2's RTE bumpers. How does that stuff hold up against self-etching paint?

Thanks for the offer, we're up in the NJ/PA area so bit of a hike. My dad basically has a full machine shop minus a lift so we have all we need to do the patch job.

GRIVLET - Proud of Cobalt > Forgetful
08/06/2013 at 13:14

How shortsighted of me. I do feel like Canada has a very high percentage of gear heads.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts.
08/06/2013 at 13:16

Don't really know how it holds up to etching, but instinct would tell me the exposed particles would be etched and generally the only effect of an acid on polymers is softening. You might try a test piece first, but it probably works. If you're painting, though, an etcher will prepare bare steel just as well as it would galvanized, so you might put coldgalv on it to preserve, then clean it off before painting- that would also work.

Just don't ever mix water-base acrylic primers and alkyd lacquers. Traps moisture, and then the lacquer comes off in sheets.

/did that on a chassis, just shoot me

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/06/2013 at 13:55

Good to know, thanks.

boxjohn > GRIVLET - Proud of Cobalt
08/06/2013 at 23:58

I think it's more about us being more spread out and having less of a carshow culture (cause it's so damned cold so often), so we have taken to forums and boards and kinjas and owl delivered chat services more readily to connect with enthusiasts.

boxjohn > Mosqvich
08/07/2013 at 00:00

It's amazing what people DO search though. I get multiple hits a day from '85 crown victoria' and dozens in a week from any combination of crown vic, exhaust, cold start, idle, drive, 1985, etc.

GRIVLET - Proud of Cobalt > boxjohn
08/07/2013 at 00:01

Trust me - the "car show culture" you speak of is nothing to miss.

Mostly just a bunch of idiots who want to race their 90hp civics for money and end up fighting over it.

For some reason I get the impression that the level of idiocy (in the car world and beyond) is somewhat lower up there.

boxjohn > GRIVLET - Proud of Cobalt
08/07/2013 at 01:02

I know, but it actually, you know, happens. There's maybe 3-4 50+ car public car shows (as in show up and park your car and start looking at the cars beside it, no registration needed) a year in Greater Toronto, which is roughly the size of Greater Atlanta, and literally none between November and April. It's also generally a longer drive to a track. If you like cars, it's just plain harder to meet like-minded people here in most cases.

We probably do have a lower level of car idiocy, but that's more a larger cultural thing of higher standards of living, better policing, etc. Rest assured, you can still find retarded stancemobiles, civics with cracked bodykits and bouncing fartcans, and even the occasional donk.

Really, the only thing I know I'd trade for about the US is the car culture, at least in terms of quantity, ease of access, cost, etc.