Pay attention commentators

"RacinBob" (racinbob) 10/30/2019 at 20:08 • Filed to: None

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I am a bit alarmed at oppo becoming the refuge of commentators regarding Deadspin changes and other editorial moves. Remember, this site exists in the Kinja universe because the overlords feels it has a purpose. And it won’t exist very long if it’s purpose becomes the anti Kinja editorial blog in exile.

I actually agree with making sports writers write about sports because I   generally found the non sports stuff in deadspin to be a waste of my time.   Just remember that if you want this blog to exist, don’t hijack it just to promote your non motor enthusiast agenda.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:22

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Bruh, please remember that this is first and foremost an OFF- TOPIC blog.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:24

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Oppo rarely stays on topic

ranwhenparked > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/30/2019 at 20:26

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Right, but he does have a point that we don’t own it and can be kicked off it, or have it shut down on us , any time the owners want. We don’t really make them any money - there’s a lot of people on here who brag about never venturing onto any of G/O’s ad-supported main blogs - so we do kind of walk a fine line here .

I understand the motivation of not wanting to see Oppositelock go the way of Gawker, Fleshbot, Defamer, Screenhead, Wonkette, Consumerist, Gridsk ipper, Sploid, Idolator, Valleywag, i09, Cink, Splinter, or Deadspin .

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:27

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I mean, we may be on the lower decks, but we’re all sailing on the good ship Kinja.

Also, sports suck

RPM esq. > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:27

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Remember that taek  when it happens to Jalopnik.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > ranwhenparked 10/30/2019 at 20:27

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RIP Fleshbot

XJDano > ranwhenparked 10/30/2019 at 20:31

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The Vane.... RIP

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > ranwhenparked 10/30/2019 at 20:32

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Which is why the oppositelock.com domain is owned by an Oppo and we are working on an escape plan.

Spanfeller is a twat > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:34

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I don’t think what we say matters too much. We aren’t paid by these people, and while we use server space we bring in an audience that cannot be ignored. around 1M views a month.  According to similarweb; most of oppo’s departing traffic goes to other Kinja websites

facw > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:37

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I get where you are coming from, but ultimately this we should be able to talk about things here, and if we can’t we should do so elsewhere. The fact that you are ok with them fucking over Deadspin (which has never been just a sports blog) doesn’t mean everyone else is, and it’s certainly interesting to discuss the happening of the Kinjaverse, especially when they affect this space.

Chuckles > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:40

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smobgirl > ranwhenparked 10/30/2019 at 20:42

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I mean, I used to go to Jalopnik, but the people here have manners.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:43

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Hey guys, let’s just not talk about the [genocide, racism, misogyny, abuse of power, silencing of the press, g eneral douche-hattery] of the outside world!  Let’s put blinders on and STAY. ON. TOPIC. or else they may come for us too!

Mercedes Streeter > ranwhenparked 10/30/2019 at 20:43

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I think you guys are worrying too much. The only community blog to be killed was ClashTalk, and that’s only because CLT literally existed to critique bad takes on FP blogs. CLT has been replaced and its replacement is already bigger than CLT was.

A few threads on Oppo really shouldn’t even blip the owners'  radars. And if they do, that means we’re literally incapable of saying anything bad about the owners unless we get deleted. In that case, we're already doomed.

ttyymmnn > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:47

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No point in kicking the hornet’s nest. If we’re quiet, they might not know we’re here.

Mercedes Streeter > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 20:47

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Funny enough, Deadspin not just sticking to sports is part of the reason it’s one of the few profitable blogs on this platform.

Management demanded the change because a big ticket advertiser demanded it. The editor essentially made it clear that they aren’t going to change Deadspin just to bow down to an advertiser.

Just wait, this is only the start.

ranwhenparked > XJDano 10/30/2019 at 20:56

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Oh, yeah, missed one. 

dogisbadob > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/30/2019 at 21:07

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And even better, oppo used to be called “offtopic” but it changed awhile ago. It changed before Kinja

BigBlock440 > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 10/30/2019 at 21:08

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It’s like a theme day, I think he’s saying it’s excessive

Cash Rewards > RPM esq. 10/30/2019 at 21:23

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At first, they came for the sports, and I did nothing , because I did not like sports....

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 21:33

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Thats great advice for an off topic blog. And by great advice I mean pull your head out of your ass

RPM esq. > Cash Rewards 10/30/2019 at 21:33

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I mean, pretty much, not that I’d analogize to the Holocaust. But actually they came for politics news (Splinter) first, and sports/social commentary second, and for essentially the same reasons.

To respond the the bad-faith response I dismissed: there’s a reason a lot of us read Jalopnik and it isn’t because it does exactly the same thing as AutoNews or Edmunds. It would suck if management ordered it to be bland, straightforward news and reviews. Same applies to Deadspin...if I wanted to check the scores I’d just  go to ESPN and then leave again immediately. Sometimes I do that. If you read Deadspin it’s because you wanted to read Deadspin, not ESPN.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > ranwhenparked 10/30/2019 at 21:34

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To be quite honest I say let them. Let g/o just completely burn everything they purchased to the ground like arsonist toddlers

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > BigBlock440 10/30/2019 at 21:36

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I mean it's a pretty big deal

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/30/2019 at 21:36

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This comment makes no sense if you don’t remember the context.

fintail > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 22:01

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I’d be surprised if the witless overpaid zero self-awareness suits even know this exists.

benjrblant > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 10/30/2019 at 22:42

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Is there a thread for this? a chat or something? Can i help somehow?

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > benjrblant 10/30/2019 at 22:46

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Discord links can be found in my comment history. Nick h as an Exocet has a wordpress instance that is being used to build Oppo V2.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 22:49

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Counterpoint - this site exists because it has a very active user base that used to generate content for the parent companies at little to no cost, interacted with the main sites to genera te ad revenue, and was, and is, an engine of traffic for the site which is good for the analytics.

Deadspin “sticking to sports” or not has little to do with what the goal(s) of Oppo are on the grand scheme of things. And given how long deadspin had not “stuck to sports”, it seems rather odd that they would decide to suddenly atte m pt to cull or at least curtail efforts that they deemed didn’t “stick to sports”. And your personal preference does not reflect the greater readership as a whole. You speak from the minority viewpoint, in this case. Sure, perhaps you’d get a few more articles focusing on individual athletes or the minutia of rules for some sports, but I feel like the energy of deadspin came as much from the ram blings as it did from the sports coverage. I still love looking up the “dingers” key word on deadspin and seeing all the electric ways the writers found to describe grown men hitting balls with a stick really R eall y REALLY hard. The exploration of words and the english language as a whole comes not from copy pasting blurbs or stat sheets, but from having to write about complex and multi-sided issues that have only one foot int he sports arena.

It’s a difficult concept to get across in just a few sentences, but please try and consider the fact that the sports coverage you enjoyed was enrichened by the writers and editors having to cover more than “just sports”. 

RacinBob > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 23:04

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Guys and gals, I really value this space and your interesting thoughts and insights it provides on a daily basis . This is good K inja so anything that threatens it worries me. As such, being one of the remaining Kinja platforms that allows open comments during a time of discomfort worries me about it’s continues existence .

Perhaps I am an outsider because I am of the corporate world but clarity of product line focus is a good thing where I work and something I believe that any CEO would expect. It may not be a thing for the current writers want, but its not the writers business to run or is it they who answer to the shareholders . Its the business leader that answers to them and a direction has been set, get over it. There’s probably some good writers from Sports Illustrated or Autoweek who would glad to fill any resignations Kinja has by its principled writers. As a guy who has seen disagreeable bad decisions over 40 years, don’t believe your principled stand is too important. T he world will move on and nobody will notice.  

What worries me more is the high schoolish posts about Kinja’s leadership. I don’t know who runs the Kinja business but I doubt they were pleased by the Patrick Batemen post. Running stuff is tough, and executives that run stuff don’t like to be made fools of (at least where I work). So my point is using this as a platform to mock or disparage the people that run the business that hosts this appears to me to be a quick way to get the plug pulled. Just saying.

Hell, this is just another opinion off of topic. Have fu n and hope to talk to you tomorrow.

RacinBob > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 10/30/2019 at 23:15

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I get the comment, however what Kinja leadership thinks is what matters and they may not share your opinion. My concern is that they will not allow Oppo to be an open insurrection against their direction.   Pull the plug and move on they will say. 

Chuckles > XJDano 10/30/2019 at 23:17

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If you miss The Vane, check out damweather.com

It’s t he same guy.

RacinBob > Mercedes Streeter 10/30/2019 at 23:18

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Don’t discount the fact that sports is one of the largest commercial markets out there though. If they can’t make money at sports, where can they?

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 23:21

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T hen I say we ride out on the bomb. If I have to conform that much to continue to exist, then I choose to not exist. But I will wait for the final say rather than leaving quietly. You may make your own choice in this matter.

Chuckles > RacinBob 10/30/2019 at 23:33

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I appreciate your opinion, but it also seems like a pretty drastic simplification of what happened at Deadspin. I would suggest some light reading.

https://deadspin.com/this-is-how-things-work-now-at-g-o-media-1836908201

https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/the-adults-in-the-room-1837487584/amp

RacinBob > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 10/30/2019 at 23:59

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Except motorsports.....

MrSnrub > RacinBob 10/31/2019 at 00:23

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This is not so much licking the boot as swallowing it whole. Jesus Christ, have some self respect

Nick Has an Exocet > RacinBob 10/31/2019 at 00:54

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Honestly, having these user-generated blogs are a pretty big legal liability for Kinja’s owners. I don’t know how long it will stay online. I feel like the expiration date is almost up (I think several feel this way). We’ve been putting some backup plans in place through Discord chat to be able to move off to a wordpress based site if necessary. Heck, if it’s fast and works better than Kinja, we may want to get out while the getting is good. We’ll see. The community will live, I’m sure of that.

Blondude > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/31/2019 at 01:58

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It’s not like Oppo’s original name was # OffTopic or anything...

Stef Schrader > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 10/31/2019 at 03:00

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I t’s completely apocalyptic for some of us, like the ex-motorsport writer who worked the closest with Deadspin out of all the other sites on the network. This absolutely sucks, full stop. They didn’t just chase off much of the writing staff—they also nuked the comment section. We’ve basically lost the place for Deadspin’s entire main-page reader community , so it makes sense that folks are looking for a place to vent. I don’t mind it being here. Skip over the off-topic posts that aren’t topics you want to read about, I guess.

A significant number of Deadspin’s most read posts were not about sports, but the rather, wider cultural commentary pieces they’ve always included . So, while I get that you might not’ve liked those , the numbers place you in the minority of Deadspin readers on that one. (And man did we obsess over those numbers of what does well and what doesn’t.) Deadspin knows what’s best for itself by now, and it ain’t stickin’ to sports. To suggest they do otherwise is to give them a suicide mission to tank their own site traffic.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Editorial control of its own content is also written as a hard division into the sites’ collective bargaining agreement, so any edict that appears to come from outside editorial about changing that direction is going to be a messy fight.

That “wall” is there to make sure advertisers and commercial interests don’t neuter, prohibit or otherwise have a say in what’s written. If I wanted milquetoast “advertiser-friendly” car content that glosses over the cons of a car , I’d read Motor Trend, not Jalopnik. I’d rather the editorial side keep that hard wall intact so that the takes remain genuine, and if a play, a car or a game sucks, the writers here can truthfully explain why it sucks. People trust the writers’ takes here because they’re honest. ( I have no doubt that Alanis doesn’t believe pizza is a meal, for example .)

H aving space to talk about the herbiest herb to ruin this network has been really cathartic to a lot of us who are still processing that these vulture-capital failsons actually nuked an entire commenting community because they’re too thin skinned to take well-warranted criticism in stride, much less function as adults .

Is there a chance the execs will shut it all down because we’re pointing out how much they suck at their jobs ? Sure, but every comment section on the network is facing the same risk . T hey shut down Splinter when it was just posting its normal content, for what it’s worth, so nothing makes sense anymore and all bets are off.

I think as long as we’re not making plans to set the guy’s house on fire or doxing him on here, we’re probably fine. Oppo flies pretty far under the radar most of the time.

I’d rather go down call ing out garbage men who hold positions of power that they’re far too untalented to deserve. What are they gonna do, fire me? I already left!

Stef Schrader > fintail 10/31/2019 at 03:10

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Hell, they didn’t even appear to read their own websites until someone’s fee-fees got hurt by Deadspin’s comment section.

As an Internet Woman™, I am obligated to note directly to the likes of Spanfeller and Maidment that even the worst comments about the G/O higher-ups on Deadspin were mild in comparison to the disgusting BS I’ve gotten over the years just for existing and daring to write stuff online. Put on your big boy Depends and listen to some of those commenters’ valid concerns, you feckless herbs . If you don’t like these mostly-just-frustrated, dick-pic-free comments about the sites’ garbage user experience, your unpopular ideas about content and your poor treatment of writers who we appreciate, then you should either do better or be the next to resign.

Mercedes Streeter > RacinBob 10/31/2019 at 09:44

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Of course, though would a Deadspin that only reports on sports be profitable? There are tons of sites out there for straight up sports reporting.

Anyway, my point is that Management is trying to change what’s not broken. So Deadspin’s reporting style pisses off a potential big advertiser, so? The site was making money as is. Maybe they should be focusing on the blogs that don’t give them a return on investment.

Publications shouldn’t change their style just to appease an advertiser, especially if they’re making money . One of the things that mak es these sites stand out is their independence. Do I want to see poo throwing on Deadspin or NSFW cartoon ledes on Jezebel? Of course not. But I’m glad they have that freedom.

But it sounds like these blogs may be quickly entering a future of highly controlled content. Maybe we’ll soon see a Jalopnik that doesn’t talk opinions  about certain car s and just reports auto news .

Ara_Richards > Mercedes Streeter 10/31/2019 at 10:56

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Who would have thought that clashtalk was like the canary in the mine, the first casualty of the great deleting.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Stef Schrader 10/31/2019 at 10:57

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Youll always have my support Stef!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Nick Has an Exocet 10/31/2019 at 11:09

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What is the legal liability?

Jayvincent > Cash Rewards 11/02/2019 at 14:21

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Cash rewards deserves more stars for this...