Regarding the Tag

"Brian, The Life of" (familycar) 06/30/2015 at 11:54 • Filed to: None

34

74

As most here know, one of us moderators stepped on their proverbial crank the other day in a misguided attempt to have some fun with the Oppo tag. I’m sure it was an attempt to both celebrate the wonderful-but-no-shit decision SCOTUS made while poking fun at a couple members of this community. To be clear, it was uncalled for. To be clear, it ruffled our feathers just as it ruffled yours. To Denver and Logansteno, you each have our collective apologies and the entire Oppo community has our promise that we will not cross such a line again in the future.

Comedy and humor are weird things. To be really funny, comedians have to ride that razor’s edge. Do it right and you’re brilliant. But it’s also very, very easy to take it too far - to be too edgy or even slip into the outright mean. Unfortunately, in this case the latter happened. While I genuinely do not know which of us did this, I do know my fellow moderators well enough to know in my heart they did not intend to hurt any feelings. I’m sure that whoever did this, wishes very much they could live that particular day over again. But, it can’t be undone. If anyone needs to “vent” at us, you are free to do so in the thread below. What can’t happen is for any member of this community to continue to pick this scab down the road, particularly those who had nothing to do with the incident. We fucked up; I’m owning it on behalf of all of us right now. Now, as arguably the most senior member of this community, I am asking that we all just move on.

I am very proud of this community for multiple reasons. The latest of which was the reaction to our Logo’s current “livery.” What I saw was positive what I didn’t see was the kind of bullshit reaction a few of my (now former) Facebook friends made when SCOTUS made their decision. I know we have a number of LGBT members here and I hope they felt the same pride and that any doubt of their sense of welcome melted away. We are, for the most part, a singularity on the Internet. A clean well-lighted place for gearheads to hang out and talk about cars or whatever. This place remains my favorite URL of all and I want very badly to keep it that way. I want very badly for all of you to feel the same way I do about the place.

What say you? Shall we move on now?

Nibbles > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 11:57

20

I FEEL THE NEED TO VENT

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 11:58

5

I am okay with it, but it’s easy for me to say since I wasn’t the one who it effected. I think basically that if Longasteno and Denver are okay with it, everyone else should be too since they really are the only ones who have a right to bitch about it, IMHO.

Nibby > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 11:58

3

Never would you have imagined before that your favorite URL has... “kinja” in it.

duurtlang > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 11:58

10

I don’t know what happened, but:

Shall we move on now?

Yes.

505Turbeaux > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 11:59

10

moving on

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 11:59

1

Aww man, what awesome adventure did I miss?? Not to be rude, but if it’s still up, can I read?

Jcarr > Nibbles 06/30/2015 at 11:59

1

The Dummy Gummy > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:00

1

I’ve seen the moderator list. I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner.

With that said, it is awesome you are owning something you didn’t even do. Noble. Doubt the real culprit will.

CB > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:00

8

I just want the mod who did it to admit that they did it and apologize. Transparency does wonders with trust.

Brian, The Life of > Nibby 06/30/2015 at 12:00

2

RIGHT?!

$kaycog > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:01

2

Well said, Brian!

Brian, The Life of > CB 06/30/2015 at 12:02

1

Frankly, that would be up to them. I wouldn’t mind seeing this either but I’m not holding grudges if I don’t.

pauljones > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:02

4

Well said, sir.

To everyone else:

As there are a large number of moderators on Oppositelock - some more active than others - it’s impossible to know who made the tag change. The system does not keep a record of such things that we can access. It was in poor taste, and the issue has certainly caused no small amount of discussion amongst us. However, in an instance like this, there is a right and wrong way to handle things. As pointed out above, picking scabs, stirring shit, and threatening other is not - and never will be - an appropriate response; let that be perfectly clear.

CB > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:03

2

Fair point. Thanks for your post, by the way. I’m fairly ready to get on with it.

Brian, The Life of > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 06/30/2015 at 12:03

1

Feel free to look for it. I gave enough info here that you can find it if you wish. I will not post a link because that would be picking the scab.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:05

1

Well said, Brian

Cherry_man1 > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:05

1

I'm so lost on this, but what ever it was seems like we should move on now but I would like to know more on who did what, why, and the knee jerk reaction

Brian, The Life of > Nibbles 06/30/2015 at 12:05

3

SO DO I ... A LOT!

pauljones > K-Roll-PorscheTamer 06/30/2015 at 12:06

1

Sometimes its better to allow sleeping dogs to lie.

However, in the spirit of this post, here is what it said:

“Denver and Logansteno can now marry!”

BrtStlnd > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:06

2

I have no idea what this is about.

Nibbles > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:06

0

THAT IS QUALITY VENTING SIR

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:07

1

Head’s up: “LGBT” is what old people use to feel politically-correct. It is now “LGBTQ” or “LGBTQIA”.

pauljones > CB 06/30/2015 at 12:08

2

That’s an issue that has been bugging us well - no one has stepped up to the plate. Given the number of moderators that could potentially have done and the fact that the system does not keep an accessible log of changes made, it’s impossible to narrow the field or prove anything.

pauljones > Cherry_man1 06/30/2015 at 12:09

1

That’s an issue that has been bugging us well - no one has stepped up to the plate. Given the number of moderators that could potentially have done and the fact that the system does not keep an accessible log of changes made, it’s impossible to narrow the field or prove anything.

and 100 more > Nibbles 06/30/2015 at 12:10

5

Ugh! I am of-fender-ed by this!

HammerheadFistpunch > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:10

1

Nicely put. Thanks

CalzoneGolem > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:10

6

I missed what happened but I’d like to include this picture I took after I trimmed my fruit trees.

CB > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 12:11

1

Yeah, I’m familiar with the headers not being tracked (mod on Photography, so that was the first thing I checked when this came up). I just think that this casts all of you in a negative light (not that I think any less of you as a whole), since all we have are mods saying “I didn’t do it, but we’re doing our best”. Since no one has fessed up to it, it just feels... I don’t know how to say it, but you understand what I’m saying, eh?

pauljones > CB 06/30/2015 at 12:13

1

I understand completely, and I agree with you. However, until the individual that did it steps up, the impasse which we’re currently at stands. I do not know of any way to force the issue and have someone step up.

For Sweden > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 06/30/2015 at 12:14

0

LAGBIQT would be more phonetic.

Brian, The Life of > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 06/30/2015 at 12:15

3

I’M SORRY ... I’M OLD >:(

/lawn. off.

CB > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 12:15

0

Yeah, I know. Thanks again, Paul.

We could always use Plan TG (for Top Gear): replace all the mods with new ones. But that’s probably the worst idea, since I really like most of the mod team here.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 12:16

1

Curiosity gets the better of me sometimes. :p

Cherry_man1 > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 12:17

1

Almost seems like it's time to do a moderator sweep and maybe cycle through the moderators. Also I still am unclear on what the reactions were or what the banner said. I would like to know

Breakfast Burrito: The True Resident Burrito > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:18

14

In regard to the new logo livery...

I understand and will defend until I die that Oppositelock is an off-topic community, however it was born from and made for car enthusiasts. I know the mods want to make the community appear accepting, but does every internet forum really need to cover itself with rainbows before we can just accept that we’re all car enthusiasts and everyone is welcome here because of that alone? I thought it was really cool to periodically change the logo to fit different car liveries, but this recent one feels very out of place. It would have been a lot better if it was done up in Jeff’s Gordon’s old rainbow Dupont livery to give us some continuity.

Since then, I’ve seen some great Top Gear tribute logos here to mark the end of the Hammond,May,Clarkson era, as well as many Oppo stickers sporting some of the classic liveries driving around Goodwood right now. All of these seem like far more relevant ways to make our logo better represent the entire community.

tl;dr— Oppo is an off topic community for car enthusiasts and should be branded as such. The logo should represent what binds us together and makes our community unique, rather than what current event the mods are interested in.

The Dummy Gummy > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 12:20

2

Here’s a thought... shrink the mod count. You’ll probably catch the perp in the middle. Also you have one of your own claiming they know who did it so maybe ask them. Because for that person to remain a mod is pretty atrocious and really brings down the community as a whole.

$kaycog > CalzoneGolem 06/30/2015 at 12:20

1

Now I have the giggles. You funny man!

BrtStlnd > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:22

10

Ok, I saw the offending tag line. As someone whose name has been used dozens of times in the Oppo header, I can only speak for myself when I say that I would not have been offended if it had been in the tagline instead of the two that were. Then again, I’m offended by very little. If it bothered the two of them it should have been taken down though. No reason to poke people that don’t like it.

pauljones > Cherry_man1 06/30/2015 at 12:23

2

The banner said, “Denver and Logansteno can now marry!”

You may guess the reactions of Denver from there.

As for the rest... that’s a can of worms that I have little desire to open at present. With this and perhaps one other exception, Oppositelock moderators have always been on the same page about things and have always worked well together to keep this place clean. It is my belief (I have no evidence either way, but I prefer to be positive where possible) that the tagline was meant to be a little good-natured ribbing. We poke fun at Brt all the time, and even I’ve been poked fun of a few times in the tagline. I think, however, that the individual in question simply made an error in judgment about who would and would not be okay with being poked fun of a bit. As such, I don’t think that a dismissal or anything of that nature is warranted per se, and I’m not about to support the idea of throwing the book at anyone. That being said, I do hope that they now understand the value of being very cautious with their judgments.

The Dummy Gummy > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 06/30/2015 at 12:23

0

What is the Q, I, A? I have never seen this.

For Sweden > Breakfast Burrito: The True Resident Burrito 06/30/2015 at 12:23

6

It’s now a Jeff Gordon tribute logo.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:27

0

Hey, just letting you know, no offense intended. Some people only know “LGBT” because they live in relatively-insular religious communities and/or have few/no young friends.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > For Sweden 06/30/2015 at 12:30

0

Perhaps. I didn’t create the acronym and LGBT is well-established, so expanding to accept others that are not cis was probably easier than mixing it up.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > The Dummy Gummy 06/30/2015 at 12:31

1

Queer, Intersex, Asexual/Ally

GIYF, if you want to learn more.

pauljones > The Dummy Gummy 06/30/2015 at 12:32

3

There may be ideas about who may or may not have done it, but there is absolutely no way to know for sure without the individual in question stepping up and admitting fault.

That being said, I don’t believe that culling the mod list is in order. In the past two years, with the general exception of this and perhaps one other minor thing, the entire mod group has been on the same page and has always worked well together to keep this place clean. And trust me, we do a lot around here. The reason that there are so many mods is that not only are some more active than others, people are also active at different times as well. More often than not, despite the large number of moderators, there are only a handful that are active at any given point in the day. That’s why we have so many moderators - to make sure that this place always has some kind of coverage at all times.

What happened here, I think, was not intended to be malicious in any way, shape, or form. Many mods (myself included) poke fun of each other, ourselves, and occasionally other commenters on a regular basis. Hell, Brt has been the target of our jokes for a long time now. Even I’ve been called out in a couple of tags. As a rule, it’s just good-natured ribbing - as long as you exercise the proper judgment as to whom you are ribbing. In this case, I believe that it was a mistaken judgment in that regard, but not one that was meant with mal intent. Whomever it is quaking in their boots right now, and while I would love it if they stepped up and owned it, I think they’ve been chastised quite thoroughly even without them taking responsibility. I doubt something like this will happen again any time soon.

Brian, The Life of > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 06/30/2015 at 12:32

1

None taken, just having some oldster fun ;)

The Dummy Gummy > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 06/30/2015 at 12:33

0

Whoa... really behind with the times... *boom* <-that was my head exploding

Cherry_man1 > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 12:33

1

Ah I see, well then. I mean maybe a simple revaluation of some of the moderators to maybe try and find the person. Because I would be a little pissed at who ever did that and maybe issue a “strongly worded” warning to that mod. I know if it was me I would laugh this off because you could classify me as bi pretty much. But I do know sometimes those two did stir a little drama at time and maybe it was a play off that? Who know but who ever the mod was needs to own up to it. Also maybe the mods need a system for recording who changed the banner for accountability perpouses

Jcarr > CalzoneGolem 06/30/2015 at 12:34

1

Breakfast Burrito: The True Resident Burrito > For Sweden 06/30/2015 at 12:34

2

Nah, a Jeff Gordon logo would have....

-No orange

-No purple

-A curving rainbow

-A yellow 24

-Jeff’s Signature in some shiny word-art

-4 Cup trophies

-Daytona 500 trophy

-Brickyard trophy

-”1993 to 2015”

-”Race of Champions participant”

-”92 Cup Wins”

-”Best Nascar ever”

-”Clint Bower can suck it”

-Maybe some nice shading for effect

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Breakfast Burrito: The True Resident Burrito 06/30/2015 at 12:36

5

Also a mullet and a pornstache, circa 1998

The Dummy Gummy > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 12:36

2

There are at least 5 mods on there that continually break the rules and act like children, but hey if you want to continue condoning that behavior that is on you guys.

I still would rather see a consolidation and re-evaluation on who is modding the boards. One of the other mods agreed with this, but no action has ever taken place. Oh well I suppose. Missed opportunities as they say.

FYI: jkm7680 has said him and many others know who it is.

pauljones > Cherry_man1 06/30/2015 at 12:38

1

I’m not real thrilled about this event, but on the other hand, I’m not going to be too quick to crucify, either. Believe me, without bothering to be specific to any individuals, a very strongly-worded post was made in the mod forum following this incident - a statement that was applicable to all. As for a system of recording configuration changes, Kinja does not currently support that (and may not be able to support that at all), and with so many mods, any manual tracking system simply won’t keep.

Brian, The Life of > The Dummy Gummy 06/30/2015 at 12:46

4

Anytime you wish to point out when any of those 5 cross the line, drop us an email at oppomoderator@gmail.com

As Paul said, things do not at all warrant any changes. We do a damn good job keeping this place civil and we do it for free. We get more unwarranted shade than we deserve and far less praise. So excuse me if I say you are 100% barking up the wrong tree with this request.

pauljones > The Dummy Gummy 06/30/2015 at 12:47

1

Well, at this point, all I can say is this: jkm7680 and many others must somehow have access to information in this regard that we, as mods, do not have. I have looked through jkm7680’s comments for the past few days, and I’ve seen nothing to indicate that he knows or how he knows.

If you wish to be more specific and point me in a direction (and by the way, I also completely understand if you don’t want to; no judgment or hard feelings there), I will look into it.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 12:47

3

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Cherry_man1 > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 12:48

0

Maybe mandate a manual system then. Be accountable, because this does not look like the best, also if there are too many of you mods then why not down size?

pauljones > Cherry_man1 06/30/2015 at 12:51

0

We have a large number of mods for two reasons. The first is that Oppositelock is a big place, and it takes a lot of eyes - and even now, we don’t catch everything. The other reason is that some are more active than others, and most are active at different times. At any given point in time, there are really only a handful of moderators that are active here. I myself am not here on evening or weekends, unless something’s up. By having a large number of mods that have different activity habits, we are able to make sure that Oppositelock has some sort of coverage at all times.

As for a manual system, as I said, it simply won’t keep. There are too many mods with too many different activity habits for there to be any real chance of it being kept correctly.

The Dummy Gummy > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 12:54

0

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/mods-171486684…

It isn’t let me link directly to his comments, but they were made 6/30/2015 @ 8:26AM. There is a whole thread, but here are the highlights:

I Know who it was, they know also I’m fairly sure. (edited for clarity from a second post)

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

A couple people know.

I’m going to keep it to myself for the time being.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I’d rather not say in public.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Denver is one of them IIRC.

Denver apparently knows as well. I’m just going off the thread. I have no idea who did it. Best of luck with the hunt.

pauljones > The Dummy Gummy 06/30/2015 at 12:58

0

I did see that thread. However, the only thing that I saw in that thread were people claiming that they knew who it was, but not sharing the information. That doesn’t give me anything real to go on.

Here’s what I need in order to look into this:

1) An actual name

2) How you discovered who it was and/or why you think they did it.

Without that, I have nothing to work with. Whispered rumors of rumors aren’t helpful here.

The Dummy Gummy > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 13:00

0

I just meant, ask him maybe he will disclose. I get what you mean though. Was just trying to help. Best of luck!

Cherry_man1 > pauljones 06/30/2015 at 13:02

1

But you can keep track of the honest ones. If mods can’t be held accountable then why not down size, it seems if you can't keep track of who fucked up there must be reform. I won't say I have great ideas but it seems if some mods are not as active as others you may want to reassess them.

pauljones > Cherry_man1 06/30/2015 at 13:09

1

We’re starting to get to the point where we are arguing in circles here.

As I pointed out above, we have so many mods so that this place is constantly supervised at all times. Keeping a manual log does not necessarily mean that anyone who doesn’t add to it is dishonest, and quite frankly, even if it did, it wouldn’t narrow down the field much. As for level of fuck-up that this one tag mistake was, I don’t think it worthy of kicking someone to the street for reasons that I have also explained above.

Dusty Ventures > The Dummy Gummy 06/30/2015 at 13:48

0

If you’re talking about jkm's claims that he knows, he isn't a mod.

The Dummy Gummy > Dusty Ventures 06/30/2015 at 13:54

1

Thought he was on the list I saw a month ago. But must have mixed that up. Thanks.

citizennick > Breakfast Burrito: The True Resident Burrito 06/30/2015 at 14:17

1

I hope Jeff Gordon writes a book and dedicates a whole chapter to Clint fucking Bowyer.

citizennick > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 06/30/2015 at 14:21

1

*1992

fhrblig > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 14:22

6

FWIW, if anyone wants to make a gay joke at my expense, be my guest. If you want me to react well to it, here’s the simple formula:

1. The joke has to not be mean-spirited, or come from a negative place.

2. The joke HAS to be funny.

3. If rule number 2 is met to excess, I usually waive rule number 1.

Where people run into trouble is when the joke ends up basically being a variation of “LOL UR GAY”, that’s not a joke, it’s meant to denigrate someone. And that isn’t funny.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > citizennick 06/30/2015 at 14:28

0

True!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > 505Turbeaux 06/30/2015 at 16:56

1

Please, lets.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Brian, The Life of 06/30/2015 at 20:46

0

I would also like to add that there are quite a few people who think that I did it, but I didn’t. My shenanigans are cheeky and fun.

boxrocket > For Sweden 07/01/2015 at 00:21

0

That looks like "Lag Bigot".

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Brian, The Life of 07/01/2015 at 03:23

0

If any mods want to make fun of me go right ahead. I actually want you to. Cause i dont give 2 shits about what other people say about me. Especially on the internent.

Axel-Ripper > Brian, The Life of 07/01/2015 at 07:13

0

Wait I thought the livery was to support Jeff Gordon’s throwback livery...