So much drama. Nobody will win

"Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped" (verdog)
10/03/2014 at 23:04 • Filed to: None

Oppo is not what it was 2 years ago. Now Jez is more clicks than jalopnik, so it's not worth a valid fight. Skewed results and overthought opinions, have a break. P

Night Oppo.

DISCUSSION (15)

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped
10/03/2014 at 23:08

Bro, I do believe you have been...

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Brian Silvestro > Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped
10/03/2014 at 23:11

preach

Kanaric > Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped
10/03/2014 at 23:16

Jez is more clicks because it's a pandering website for people who like to whine and cry online and talks about nothing but sensationalist garbage.

Sweet Trav > Kanaric
10/03/2014 at 23:25

And Jalopnik doesn't pander with it's content? That's like saying CNBC doesnt pander the dems and Fox News doesnt pander to the GOP.

How many hellcat articles were there?

Kanaric > Sweet Trav
10/03/2014 at 23:28

It's not nearly as bad. Jez panders with it's content on every new "fat shaming" "body image" "men are evil and play video games" thing they can find.

What does Jalopnik do? Not anything near as annoying.

Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped > Brian Silvestro
10/03/2014 at 23:29

pressure from above *clickbait $$$ makers* has a long reach. Sucks being a relative of such controversy.

Brian Silvestro > Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped
10/03/2014 at 23:30

I want the old ways back.

pls

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped
10/03/2014 at 23:34

Two years ago I found Oppo, and promptly never returned. I was lured back by the promise it had changed.

But this last week has shown that no, it's just shifted focus.

Sweet Trav > Kanaric
10/03/2014 at 23:34

It's called knowing your audience man. its all about attention. its media

phenotyp > Brian Silvestro
10/04/2014 at 00:13

I just want to be able to ghostride the blip again.

Kanaric > Sweet Trav
10/04/2014 at 00:34

I was reading this article about how the media used to be. Basically there was an election in 1984, this democratic politician Gary Hart had an extra marital affair. He and his staffers were extremely confused with what was going on.

Basically what started is that the New York Post (iirc) started stalking him and caught him with his mistress. At a press conference they flat out confronted him about it. A presidential candidate has NEVER been asked such a question before. It was always about the ISSUES. Before these things were kept under wraps by everyone (see Kennedy) and were considered private matters, which is how he handled the conference it was a private matter he claimed. Also most journalists there were caugh with mistresses and doing coke and things on the campaign trail (this was the 80s after all).

Basically around this time tabloids were gaining new power and all the media outlets wanted to get in on that. He was SWARMED by cameras at every campaign stop in his face, preventing him from moving. There was one time where they were trampling a child trying to get to him, he was trying to help the child up and he was telling a reporter he know "Why won't you help me!?" meanwhile trying to get this child they knocked him to the ground and posted some "gotcha, lol he fell" article pieces. Basically it was complete and totally disgusting human slime behavior.

Journalism since then has descended directly into that. It's all fact free tabloid nonsense about trying to pander to emotions and sensationalism. I hate it more than anything.

Internet journalism, at first, was about facts and not about this tabloid garbage but now most sites have descended into this behavior.

Gamecat235 > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver
10/04/2014 at 04:40

that's worrying. (Perhaps accurate, though).

Doing A LOT of reading tonight.

Brian Silvestro > phenotyp
10/04/2014 at 09:27

*cries*

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Gamecat235
10/04/2014 at 10:54

It used to be filled with multiple NSFW posts, all day every day. They were a nice, clear sign saying "women not welcome, unless naked."

Those are gone now, for the most part. But instead there are posts with people pretty much saying the same thing.

pauljones > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver
10/05/2014 at 10:25

I completely understand why you feel that way. Truth be told, were I in your shoes, I'd have run from this place already.

Even as a guy, there are days when I get pretty goddamned fed up with this place and just want to drop it altogether. The past few days have been key examples.

I wanted to stop typing there, and simply write it all off and move on.

However, the memory of my grandmother hit me up the back of my head. She was a decidedly colorful and interesting person. My grandfather was a bit of a boisterous man with loud opinions and the will to back them up. He would always tell is that he would be more than happy to die for what he believed was right, and to this day I've never doubted it.

One day, however, while the old curmudgeon was on another of his rants, she simply looked at him and said, "Dying for a cause isn't courage. It's stupidity. Courage is living for a cause." And she walked away.

I'll never forget the look on my grandfather's face.

It's that memory that comes back to me right now. At the end of the day, this is just the interwebz, and it's not all that important. But still, I and others have worked hard to build Oppositelock. Is it perfect? Nope. Is it the place of welcome and fun that we envisioned when we started to build it? Not by a longshot. In fact, in it's present state, it's something of a diseased little pocket of the internet.

But for all of its severe flaws at the moment, there is still a core of good people here who want to see this place grow and improve. You know who they are, and you know that they are willing to work at it. It's hard, though, given the size and nature of this place.

Change doesn't happen overnight, even if you work all night. It takes time, and a lot of it, for even the littlest of gains. There has been progress, however. The drop in NSFW posts, for instance. I'm particularly proud of that, as it involved my changing my thought process altogether and then trying to convince others to change theirs. By and large, it had an impact. Not by being forceful, but by addressing the underlying attitudes and working to change them.

It worked.

But if it is going to keep working, and we are going keep trying this approach, then we need help. Your help. Yamahog's help. Everybody's help, and as much of it as we can get.

Here's why:

1) Automotive culture already has the stigma of being a boys-only club. It's not as bad as it once was, but that stigma is nevertheless still present. It's been perpetuated by the false belief that no women had ever stepped up to express their interest. Obviously, that wasn't the case; those that expressed and interest simply had their voices drowned out by those not interested in change. What change has occurred has been because of those like you two that have been willing to stand up and shout louder than the assholes.

We need your help.

2) The average age of Oppositelock contributors is astoundingly young. I would estimate that the biggest age range present on Oppositelock is 16-24. Not exactly the brightest age for anyone, particularly boys expecting a boys club.

It is, however, an age range where thoughts and attitudes are still malleable. With the right experiences and the right examples, attitudes can be changed for the better.

We need your help.

3) The final, and perhaps most pathetic reason, is pretty simple: we want to know that someone supports what we are trying to do. Yes, that's right. It's an insecurity thing. But for the core of people here who do try very hard to change this place, just having a little perceived suppose makes all the difference in the world.

Remember, we are not Gawker Media employees. Moderating this place is not our living, and we don't get paid for this. We volunteer whatever time we can spare to this place (which, sometimes, isn't as much time as this place needs) because it's our passion. Passion, however, sometimes only goes so far, and it's easy to just get sick of this place and want to walk away. What keeps us going is when people join us and show their support for what we are trying to do, and contribute what they can.

We need you. All of you.

This place is far from perfect, and it's going through something of a rough patch right now. But if you are willing to stick around and help us, we can work together to make this a better place.