Oppositexit

"Spanfeller is a twat" (theaspiringengineer)
10/28/2019 at 20:56 • Filed to: None

It seems like G/O managing staff is becoming increasingly hostile towards the users and the writers themselves.

Sure, Kinja has improved, and we have not been targeted yet... But where will Oppo go if G/O suddenly finds us as just dead weight?

Logic says they shouldn’t; we cost them very little time or money and bring in a lot of engagement... the whole “not controlling us” and the fact that we’re impossible to monetize means that they might not like giving us tools to publish articles and moderate a forum. But I just wonder if there’s any sort of contingency plan in case the worst happens.

DISCUSSION (59)

AestheticsInMotion > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:03

Kinja has not improved. We've just gotten used to numerous negative changes

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:04

Hopefully they will put a merciful end to our struggles.

-Your friendly neighborhood moderator

Spanfeller is a twat > AestheticsInMotion
10/28/2019 at 21:04

I trust E90's assessment, I’ve only been here for two years... and in the 3rd world where G/O thinks no one has disposable income we don’t get overran with ads and stuff.... so for me it works rather nicely.

CB > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:04

There is no contingency plan. Other than people who know each other in real life and have exchanged emails/social media.

Spanfeller is a twat > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
10/28/2019 at 21:05

I can take your place and moderate!

I swear I will be fair... I will only ban people who don’t like the Kia Stinger.

Spanfeller is a twat > CB
10/28/2019 at 21:06

Well, that’s going to be a problem.

Apparently clashtalk disappeared .

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:07

Soon everyone wants to ban everyone.

jimz > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:08

we’ll find something else.

CB > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:10

I heard that.

We might bring in enough traffic to keep the lights on a little longer, but I’m not hopeful on how long that’ll be. And they won’t give us a warning.

Spanfeller is a twat > CB
10/28/2019 at 21:12

all of the other sub blogs are still going on, even blogs like bullshift (where no one has posted in at least a year) are still online...

Maybe it was something else.

Spanfeller is a twat > jimz
10/28/2019 at 21:13

its just that G/O is turning a lot tenser than usual...

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:13

There’s the emergency subreddit and the Discord server. We really don’t have a plan.

Chuckles > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:14

https://groupthink.kinja.com/wanted-clashtalk-1837475810

nermal > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:15

Don’t forget about the SEO benefits.

Oppo pageviews may be “free” on both sides in that they don’t have any paid writers or a ds, but they do provide incremental value in the form of driving new viewers to the network that stumble across them thru a Bing search .

ranwhenparked > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:16

Start a Usenet newsg roup?

Or, we all just move over to r/oppositelock.

Spanfeller is a twat > nermal
10/28/2019 at 21:18

Ah the SEO.

The only reason I got 50k views on something about trucks and was called an [EXPLETIVE ] various times.

AestheticsInMotion > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:18

If we’re talking 10+ years... Everything on the internet was terrible by modern standards.

I don’t think many would argue that in the past year, year and a half... T here have been some very noticeable negative changes, even by the ever fluctuating standards of kinja.

Bugs have always existed, but there used to be a somewhat quick response to them, and a genuine feeling that “hey, the guys on the backend genuinely want kinja to improve and will work towards that goal”. K inja steadily improved, albeit two steps forward and one step back at a time.

Whearas today... It’s hard to argue that whoever is taking care of the 1's and 0's is trying to push people away. O r something else is going on, way over my head. T here are bugs that have gone untouched for over a year. Many, even. There have been changes to the UI that needlessly add convoluted steps where once you could do something simply and intuitively. Multiple management changes, massive exodus of writers, some by choice, other... Not so much. And as for ads, I'm using Chrome which automatically blocks them, but I believe we do have ads here, no?

Spanfeller is a twat > ranwhenparked
10/28/2019 at 21:22

never heard of Usenet...I’m looking it up now.

Spanfeller is a twat > AestheticsInMotion
10/28/2019 at 21:23

I don’t use an ad block and I’ve never seen one on Oppo

AestheticsInMotion > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:25

Do you use Chrome? I see all the spots where ads would be... If it wasn’t for Chrome.

Like this, on the fantastic miragemod post

Kinja'd!!!

Spanfeller is a twat > AestheticsInMotion
10/28/2019 at 21:26

I see something like that on chrome, and firefox, and safari. I use chrome on my PC, used to use Firefox on my mac, and safari on my phone.

VajazzleMcDildertits - read carefully, respond politely > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:32

My McRibs post apparently resonated with many people who came in and told me how gross it was.

I mean it is, but it’s just McRibs, I see them once every half decade.

Derpwagon > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
10/28/2019 at 21:34

There's a discord server?

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:34

We have a Discord channel some folks uses every so often as a kind of contingency plan....not all of us are on there, but at least it would be a good place to start (this link expires in a day to prevent bots, but would work until then if you did want to join! :) ) :

https://discord.gg/KMFneW

nermal > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 21:36

That’s why you should always put a link to your posts on VWVortex with inflammatory language about their user base. This helps to maximize pageviews.

Spanfeller is a twat > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
10/28/2019 at 21:39

I think I’m already on it...

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Derpwagon
10/28/2019 at 21:40

It got linked a few weeks back.

https: // discord . gg / UAB * be sure to add ‘BnB’ at the end. I’m separating it because bots. And delete the spaces.

Stef Schrader > ranwhenparked
10/28/2019 at 21:59

I’d rather rake my testicles over a cheese grater than move to Reddit.

(disclaimer: I don’t have puny meat testicles, but I do dislike Reddit’s interface quite a bit.)

Stef Schrader > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 22:00

I think Clashtalk got on someone’s bad side. Either way, it’s disappointing that they deleted it with seemingly no notice.

Stef Schrader > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 22:03

There have been attempts to move Oppo elsewhere before, but none really caught on. I think everyone will end up scattering to the nine winds, sadly.

Personally, I vote for an OppositeShack next to the Nürburgring, wherein I rage quit this garbage life where nothing ever gets better and sell tacos for ‘R ing laps.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Stef Schrader
10/28/2019 at 22:09

As this and Live and Let Diecast are the only two subblogs I visit, I had never even heard of Clashtalk until today and have no idea what it was about...?

Snuze: Needs another Swede > CB
10/28/2019 at 22:09

Thats what worries me most, one day Ill come on here and it will be just nothing, and Ill have no way to get in touch with you clowns.

Spanfeller is a twat > Stef Schrader
10/28/2019 at 22:14

I think this Oppositeshack could have electric car chargers, so that people have a taco as their electric cars charge.

CB > Snuze: Needs another Swede
10/28/2019 at 22:15

I occasionally look at the Reddit. A few of us have each other on Facebook, so we’ll have to six degrees of separation our way to find everyone.

Spanfeller is a twat > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
10/28/2019 at 22:15

It was basically Rude Negro’s domain.... that user had some really hot, and usually good, takes.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > CB
10/28/2019 at 22:18

Im on the discord now! Ill have to look for the Reddit and FB group.

Honestly I think Reddit might be the best platform for us because its relatively similar to Kinja in terms of formatting. And Im slowly getting used to the commenting structure.

CB > Snuze: Needs another Swede
10/28/2019 at 22:20

I’m not on the Discord and I’ve heard the Facebook group is a shitshow. Reddit is dead-ish, but is the most likely platform to go to.

ranwhenparked > Stef Schrader
10/28/2019 at 22:20

That also rules out migrating to TheTruthAboutCars, theirs is pretty terrible too.

MrSnrub > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 22:22

To be honest I’ve never really had a problem with Reddit as far as user experience goes, it’s mainly the redditors who annoy me. I can post pictures much more reliably there than I can on Kinja

Nick Has an Exocet > Stef Schrader
10/28/2019 at 22:27

I would cast a vote for taking Oppo to real-life. Can we crowdfund ownership of a track? :)

phenotyp > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 22:31

Aw, c’mon you guys.

I love you. I love Oppo.

Kinja'd!!!

I just want to see my friends again.

Nick Has an Exocet > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 22:33

I hate relying on a corporate entity that I have no shared stakes in. I would love to try and break Oppo away onto it’s own open source platform. I could envision running minimal ads on that then using ad revenue to circulate long term shitboxes between top writers.

Someone here (Brian? Whoever that is?) owns Oppositelock.com.

I also have driving.style and drivinglane.com

Spanfeller is a twat > Nick Has an Exocet
10/28/2019 at 22:45

It’s funny because Dusty Ventures once told me someone actually has the rights to the Oppo logo too.

Like someone literally went and registered it...

So, if the person running the website isn’t the person who owns the logo, then two oppos could theoretically sue eachother over copyrights...

That would be the best solution .. I think that the only issue is that you’d have to invest a lot of time getting outside viewers... ads count unique pageviews shamefully.... Eventually oppo would grow into what Jalopnik is today, and then we’d have a subblog of commenters called “regularlock” or something.

Nick Has an Exocet > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 22:52

I’d be okay with that though. It’s kind of the circle of life on the internet. If people are interested, we could spin up a Wordpress and try it.

Urambo Tauro > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 22:55

Is it true that t he autoplay videos are there to generate aut omatic pageviews f or their source articles ? Similar to infinite scroll? They’ve never been anything but an obstacle to me. They’re always articles that I’ve already read/watched, ones that I already have open in another tab, or ones that I am simply NOT interested in and don’t appreciate having rammed down my throat. I think you hit the nai l on the head, using the word “hostile” to describe these user-UNfriendly tactics.

Spanfeller is a twat > Nick Has an Exocet
10/28/2019 at 22:56

If we could emulate some of Kinja’s good tools it would be perfect. I used to run a wordpress website and it takes time to organize it.

I think we’d also have to resist the urge to try to “improve” oppo with more sections...

Spanfeller is a twat > Urambo Tauro
10/28/2019 at 23:00

Maybe? I mean lying about video views is easy; just ask Facebook.

Infinite scroll is the scourge of the earth and it would be banned if I had any sort of power

Nick Has an Exocet > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 23:02

I wouldn’t mind a few improvements. For example, allowing political posts on sub-page rather than the homepage would be rad. Tagging is really nice but it got kind of killed with a kinja update. I don’t mind the editor (when it works) but TinyMCE or similar are worlds better. An events page would also be great.

Would a lso be cool to have an official instagram.

Stef Schrader > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 23:07

y’know, that is an excellent business opportunity

Spanfeller is a twat > Nick Has an Exocet
10/28/2019 at 23:07

I mean, just like how deadspin has the concourse... it makes sense to do that specifically... rather than just throwing them out as “WARNING POLITICS AAAAH SOME GET REALLY ANGERY ABOUT THIS XDXDXDLIL!”

Spanfeller is a twat > Stef Schrader
10/28/2019 at 23:09

Tesla already has a supercharger at the nurburgring... but for all those Renault Zoes that empty their punny little batteries in a single lap, they have to go somewhere.

Also, and this is tangentially related... Tacos in Europe are really good business. You’d be amazed at how expensive they are ! Five euros a pop... fucking lunatics.... the best tacos in Mexico don’t cost that much!

Stef Schrader > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
10/28/2019 at 23:10

I think it originally spun off Jezebel? Or maybe Gawker? It was an Oppo-like user forum that talked a lot about main-page content along with the usual user forum-type stuff (life posts, postings of the excrements, blah blah blah). I’d be the wrong person to ask for the details as I only read it a handful of times.

AestheticsInMotion > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 23:16

Hmm no clue

Spanfeller is a twat > ranwhenparked
10/28/2019 at 23:46

What happened to the drivetrieb?

Urambo Tauro > Spanfeller is a twat
10/28/2019 at 23:48

Infinite scroll could be useful if they were smarter about its implementation. If I was running a search, and reached the end of the first page of results, I wouldn’t mind infinite scroll loading more search results. But this loading of additional articles that I didn’t ask for has got to GO. Kinja’s biggest strength is (or used to be) user engagement, but infinite scroll DIRECTLY interferes with the comment sections. It feels like a betrayal an d i s incredibly frustrating on top of that .

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Spanfeller is a twat
10/29/2019 at 06:02

...and never heard of that person either, lol.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Stef Schrader
10/29/2019 at 06:02

That’s more than I kne w, so thanks for the details regardless! :)

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Stef Schrader
10/29/2019 at 10:22

LOL

i86hotdogs > Spanfeller is a twat
10/29/2019 at 12:09

Simple, we go back to Myspace.