Has the front page always been so rough?

"Trunk Impaired 318" (matteocscaptura) 03/02/2015 at 20:19 • Filed to: None

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I remember about two years ago when I started to frequent Jalopnik I really only ever paid attention to the front page but don't remember any particularly bad replies or rude commenters. But once I joined Oppo Ive been far more involved in the sub blogs than the front page and I just remembered why, I made what I feel was a pretty obvious joke about Lewis Hamilton being the driver of the stolen G8 in Tom's article and someone was quick to point out how much different the description was to Hamilton. Granted he saved himself with a decent enough joke but the whole thing just came off as pretty confrontational.

"5'11", 160 lbs"—Lewis couldn't reach 5'11" if he jumped. And 160 lbs? That's enough for TWO F1 drivers. Man, I don't care how physically fit Mark Webber was, I really wanted to send him a couple of cheeseburgers. Really, would an extra 10 lbs. have been a competitive disadvantage?

So tell me Oppo, has the front page always been this rough or have I just become old and senile/take myself too seriously?

Slidy M1 Procars for your time.

ttyymmnn > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 20:24

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The FP has always been worse in general, but I do think it's gotten worse in the last year or so. That being said, I rarely ever comment up there. I'll go kick the tires and look at the articles, but that's it. I'd much rather stay here in nice cozy Oppo. Besides, there's more interesting stuff to read here.

Trunk Impaired 318 > ttyymmnn 03/02/2015 at 20:25

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Thats usually how I am but I like to interject every once and a while, plus being in the grey has also contributed to that

Shamoononon drives like a farmer > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 20:29

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They banned me from the front page a year or so ago. I probably told a really terrible joke or something, forget why. Don't care. There are many people that just want to look like they know what they're talking about even if it means walking all over someone else. You kind of just got to bring a tough skin and sense of humor, no sense getting upset.

Kailand09 > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 20:31

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4+ years ago it wasn't bad at all really. I remember the occasional annoying shit, but nothing like it is nowadays.

Trunk Impaired 318 > Shamoononon drives like a farmer 03/02/2015 at 20:33

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Im not upset at all, I just like to think that other people know that most of us over here dont take everything so seriously and like to have a good laugh. Sure theres a big place for being serious and correct but for the most part I think we're on here to share our knowledge and have a good laugh

Boxer_4 > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 20:37

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It's always been a bit rough. It wasn't nearly as bad a before when I joined 5 or 6 years ago, but it has progressively gotten worse.

scoob > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 20:39

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The FP is like YouTube. You go there for content but the community makes you leave. Except for a few people.

jariten1781 > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 20:41

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There's always been annoying people around there. It's always worse when the story gets picked up outside the jaloposphere.

Thing is, the gawker sites have been cross-pollinating way more than they used to and it's brought in a lot of different folks and attitudes both good and (more often) obnoxious.

It's not really a big dealio though. Just the internet doin its thing.

BeaterGT > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 20:41

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That doesn't seem bad. Having said that, yes the front page sucks really bad sometimes. People feel the need to prove points and sometimes without much subtlety. Oppo is just like the front page but you replace the asshats with Fiesta/Focus ST owners.

SteveLehto > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 20:44

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I've been contributing regularly here for about a year. Are you saying there was a time when it wasn't like this? Almost anything I put up - I can expect one or two vicious comments. Insults etc. Today, someone called me a troll for having written my article. Which has been read 14,000 times and he was the only reader upset. How does that make me a troll?

Some people come here to vent and take it out on the writers and other commenters. Ignore them. At least you're not writing under your real name. My name, phone number, picture and office address are public. Makes me wonder sometimes.

Trunk Impaired 318 > BeaterGT 03/02/2015 at 20:44

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No its not bad at all, I think I was just more surprised than anything that he came out so strongly.

Trunk Impaired 318 > SteveLehto 03/02/2015 at 20:48

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In my opinion definitely, and the guys who have been here for a real long time, 3+ years, they say that its almost a complete 180 from what it was. But yea, theres always a good number of people who have to say something negative, as for the real name thing if someone really wanted to, 5 minutes of internet sluething on here would probably turn up everything for me. I suppose I just like to think that everyone is here to gain some knowledge or have a laugh but alas thats far from it.

Sn210 > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 20:49

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I think you summed it up in your comment here. Everything over there is real serious and you better be a subject matter expert on EVERYTHING.

Trunk Impaired 318 > Sn210 03/02/2015 at 20:52

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Heaven forbid you get a minor fact wrong out there. I feel like if you get something wrong on Oppo someone will point it out to you but they'll do it to help your knowledge whereas on the front page they do it to prove they know something you dont.

jvirgs drives a Subaru > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 21:32

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I used to love the front page. Then we went back to "The Grey" and it got worse. I've given up trying to get followed and posting over there

jvirgs drives a Subaru > SteveLehto 03/02/2015 at 21:34

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Only two?!? I'm shocked Steve. Shocked. You got it easy on the front page.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 21:36

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Yes.

SteveLehto > jvirgs drives a Subaru 03/02/2015 at 21:38

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I meant one or two at a minimum . . .

What's funny is that I read all comments and respond to 99% of them. Many of the trolls aren't expecting a response. I'm getting better at ignoring them from the start but one or two are somehow out of the gray.

One guy in particular makes idiotic comments on everything I write. I've asked him to leave me alone and he won't. So I ignore him. But seriously?

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Trunk Impaired 318 03/02/2015 at 21:42

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FP is brutal. If like Toyotas or oust yourself as a BMW owner, you're gonna have a bad time.

What about on car buying? Easily one of the most amusing subs, but comments are seething with hatred.

Tavarish: "This used luxury car now costs less than a Corolla!"

First reply: "You're an idiot. The CLK276 AMG Avant M1 isn't even in the same class as a corolla. Step helping people make bad decisions."

It's just for funsies...

Trunk Impaired 318 > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 03/02/2015 at 21:52

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I like my old Toyota and I own 2 BMWs, no wonder why I dont fit in!

Heroesandvillains > SteveLehto 03/03/2015 at 18:32

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I've been a commenter on Gawker Media sites for a little over a year now. I'm followed by Kotaku and all of its sub-blogs and spend a good deal of time reading Gawker and Deadspin (I don't comment much in either of those places. Thus; greyed status). I visit all three every single day.

I read Jalopnick thoroughly maybe once every few weeks - so clearly NOT very often.

I say all that to make the point that you are literally the only contributor I follow. Your writing is always insightful and entertaining and your dedication to respond in the comments is bettered by no other.

Keep doing what you're doing, Steve! You've got some of the best stuff on the Internet and I don't even really like cars or law analysis all that much!

Your 14,000:1 ratio is pretty good. Have you been to Jezebel lately?

SteveLehto > Heroesandvillains 03/03/2015 at 18:54

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Thanks for the note. I have to admit that I stopped reading comments on typical articles a while back. (I still read the ones where the article asks for them: "Tell Us Your Most Embarrassing Bathroom Moments!") I know they can get ugly and what I have seen can't even begin to compare to some of the ugliness at Jezebel that created the need for the gray-to-black transition for commenters.

The weird part is that it really is a small number of people who ruin it for everyone. And I really wonder what motivates the behavior (I know, I'm over thinking this). I've had people argue with me about the silliest things and it is amazing how crazy people will get (I try to stay level-headed, even when debating with a troll).

Honestly, if there was a method to block someone permanently from commenting on one's threads, I would gladly pay. I know of one or two people for whom I would gladly pay a hundred dollars apiece if I could block them.

Maybe Gawker should investigate this as an alternate income stream?

Heroesandvillains > SteveLehto 03/03/2015 at 19:34

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Kinja either needs an overhaul or it needs to go all together (for various reasons. This being one of them). I visit a few other places around the internet and you can literally block a user from existence. You'd never even know they were there! Click. Poof! Mr. Scumbag becomes invisible to you and only you.

It's a fair way to do handle it.

I love the Gawker family of sites and the commenters are a big reason for it (especially the folks over at Deadspin who are hilarious). But the current system continues to let intelligent commenters fall by the wayside (in the...gulp..."Pending Comments Where If You Click On This Button You Might See A Mutilated Cat" section) while hate-baiters posts have to be viewed as long as they are "approved."

It's an odd way of doing things.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Trunk Impaired 318 03/04/2015 at 22:48

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I experienced much dickishness today.

It was exhausting enough to make me consider never expressing an opinion on a FP story ever again...

Trunk Impaired 318 > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 03/04/2015 at 23:07

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which post?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Trunk Impaired 318 03/04/2015 at 23:22

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http://jalopnik.com/i-hate-progres…

SteveLehto > Trunk Impaired 318 03/05/2015 at 06:27

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Had a troll who claimed to be an attorney so I challenged him and he ID'd himself! Then he proceeded to continue arguing with me and finally, when he got frustrated, he called me an "asshole."

Seriously. Save the name-calling for burner accounts. http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/holy-shit-for-…

Turns out the guy is a small-town general practitioner who has no clue what he's talking about and he admitted he only "persued" my article so he may have misunderstood it (then he calls me an "asshole" because I was unhappy that he had mischaracterized my position repeatedly).

I'm still not 100% certain he is who he claims to be but I am constantly amazed.

Trunk Impaired 318 > SteveLehto 03/05/2015 at 11:39

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As much as I want to argue with these idiots I find it best to just give a shorter rhetoric and leave it at that and in essence stop feeding the trolls

SteveLehto > Trunk Impaired 318 03/05/2015 at 17:36

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I almost avoided this. I saw his comment and it was gray . . . . to respond or not? I shouldn't have but it was obvious he had misread my article. Which he admitted later. He admitted he didn't actually read it but had "perused" it and then was arguing with what he perceived to be the "gist" of the article. Which he had completely backwards.

He's a moron and I think he's gone away. But I still am amazed.

Flat Six > SteveLehto 03/12/2015 at 12:51

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Steve,

Don't be this guy!

http://xkcd.com/386/

VincentMalamute-Kim > SteveLehto 03/12/2015 at 12:52

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Does no one remember that in the pleistocene era (epoch before anybody flames me!), Gawker media used to require commenters to audition before they were allowed commenting privileges? And that fellow commenters could star you or the reverse depending on the quality and usefulness of what you spewed? Not like the current stars for 'like', these stars affected you could continue to comment.

It's a reflection of the fall of the Roman Empire, the degradation of civilized society, regression to the lowest common denominator, etc etc.

SteveLehto > Flat Six 03/12/2015 at 13:18

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Normally I try but my fear on a post like the one I was talking about is that people might read it and say, "Hmm, an attorney disagrees with him." People need to know that if that person is an attorney, he/she has no idea what he/she is talking about.

But in the long run, I agree with you. Better to let people read both and give each its due (mine is written by someone signing a real name who can be looked up - the other is written by a troll with a burner acct.)

Thanks.

SteveLehto > VincentMalamute-Kim 03/12/2015 at 13:21

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I think writers should be allowed to flag commenters who are abusive and if a person draws a couple flags, they should be banned and have ALL their comments wiped from the site. Sure, they could come back with another handle but they'd have to start from scratch.

But that's just me.