I've been looking at the FP again..

"Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh" (andymcbradleigh)
08/18/2015 at 18:00 • Filed to: None

And I wonder why.. Jalopnik used to be a rather cool place... Now it’s just tons of fucking clickbait with the odd worth to read stuff.

The Gawkerverse ruined Jalopnik I say, journalism no longer matters, it’s all about those clickyclicks from facebook and such,

DISCUSSION (59)

BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:02

It’s mainly these new lists that I hate. The QOTD lists used to be pretty good, but have been lacking massively lately.

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:03

That new “Buyer’s Guide” is stupid as well. What was so wrong with the good ole numbered Jalopnik Review?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:07

Oh come on, Torch had some great explanations of why that dude keyed the Aston.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Van Man, rocks the Man Van
08/18/2015 at 18:09

Right. But hey, gotta keep up with the firm right.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
08/18/2015 at 18:09

Well... yeah no.. sorta.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:10

• The guy’s just a dick

• The baby’s the jerk, and is making the guy do it because the baby blames Aston Martin for the decline of Jensen, a marque the baby loves

• The guy’s a spy, and by making a scratch on the car, he’s sending a signal to a field agent to not detonate the UK’s secret doomsday device. This act is performed once a month.

• The guy is an advanced experimental android, and is malfunctioning. That would also explain the strange grimaces. The baby is probably some sort of data transmitting unit transmitting data back to the parent company, the Wham-O corporation.

• That Aston killed his sensei

• The baby is actually an alien pod-baby, and is controlling the man through his mind; the invasion plan involves crippling the global economy by flooding our body shops with key-related repair jobs

• It’s his own car, and he really, really doesn’t understand how proximity keys work.

Patrick George > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:15

journalism no longer matters

http://jalopnik.com/the-man-who-tu…

http://jalopnik.com/why-are-the-fe…

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/how-tomorrows-…

http://jalopnik.com/why-hasnt-gm-r…

http://jalopnik.com/how-jeeps-recl…

http://jalopnik.com/saleen-is-suin…

http://jalopnik.com/why-did-mechan…

http://jalopnik.com/the-worlds-fas…

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-space-shut…

http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/this-is-the-on…

Happy to keep going if you want. How much time you got?

Patrick George > Van Man, rocks the Man Van
08/18/2015 at 18:16

Everyone hated the numbered review so we got rid of it!

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
08/18/2015 at 18:16

I guess I’m just fed up with the whole Jalopnik is now clickyclick thing.. Sorry :/

Patrick George > BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE
08/18/2015 at 18:16

Tell us how we can get better!

Nibby > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:18

Blame BuzzFeed. And Gawker.

BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:21

I’d hate to blame Aaron, but it seems like ever since he took over the QOTD/AOTD stuff they’ve gotten worse. That’s not to say I don’t like him, but I only know he’s the one that posts this stuff because it’s so bad IMO. I honestly couldn’t tell you whom he took over for.

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:21

I don't recall anyone hating it...

LongbowMkII > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:23

then got rid of the next thing too...

Patrick George > Van Man, rocks the Man Van
08/18/2015 at 18:24

Trust me, I used to write them. Everyone hated them. The system meant well but was arbitrary, constricting and hardly standardized. We killed it off to make stories better.

As for Buyer’s Guides, it’s literally that — a buyer’s guide for new model cars. It won’t replace reviews, but will be a place where you can find them!

LongbowMkII > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:24

make it QOTW. there’s just not enough content to warrant a daily feature of that. Proof: cars driving cars.

LongbowMkII > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:27

It’s not so bad, but the comments aren’t what they used to be.

Can we avoid mentioning Trump again until he challenges Biden to a drag race?

BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:27

I like the “would I drive it/pros and cons” graphic at the end of every review that y’all recently introduced. Didn’t hate the numbered scores either though.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:28

I won’t give you a detailed description on how to get better, but lately Jalopnik is looking more and more like tumblr. Get rid of the condescending views and the hipsterish car reviews you have and it's all good.

BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:30

Y’all definitely do put out some great stuff, no question. I think what Andrew’s saying here is that there’s just too much Buzzfeed-y filler and fluff lately. Quality over quantity I guess?

Patrick George > LongbowMkII
08/18/2015 at 18:32

AOTD is entirely dependent on the questions we come up with. And after nearly 10 years of doing them, it’s hard not to have overlap (which happens). But it’s still how we get readers involved in fun, easily digested stuff every morning.

It may be worth considering playing with the format a bit, bit I think if I announced I was getting rid of it there would be a much bigger backlash.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:33

I’ve got all the time ever mate. I do enjoy the odd stuff on Jalopnik, I just don’t like the overall feel there anymore.

Sure I’m a bit more forward than I should be, I’m probably an asshole if I’m honest.. But I do not like the direction Jalopnik is heading.

Anima > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:34

Hey Patrick, nice of you to drop in.

I’m somewhere in the middle in this argument.. I think there are still a lot of great articles on the FP (especially when Jason and Raph have been.. well.. out on the roof for a smoke.)

But there is also a lot of commercial stuff, advertisment from the gawkersphere and a certain tone of article titles seeping in. And while this doesn’t say anything about the articles themselves, choosing to use clickbaity titles is a turnoff for a lot of the old folks here. (not to mention the commenting system where someone who regularly comments on this site for 7 years is greyed out).

I understand this isn’t the ‘ little’ blog it used to be, and that you have to follow along with trends and expectations from the Gawker overlords, but it has alienated some of the people that helped build this site and often provided (the source for) content.

The articles on the FP are spread over a wider range of interests, and while that is not a bad thing perse, there is sometimes the feeling that there is a lack of focus. Some crossposts from other sites in the Gawkerverse and sometimes just plain non-articles as filler don’t help either.

I still enjoy the site, don’t get me wrong. But like many of the people here who watched it grow, I’m worried it will lose it’s soul. That what made it different from all the other sites.

And that, I understand, is the hardest thing for an editor in chief/managing editor to balance. Keeping the old crowd happy while growing as a site, appealing to new clicks and keeping up with the times.

scoob > Van Man, rocks the Man Van
08/18/2015 at 18:34

Because “normal” cars were getting roughly the same scores luxury/sports/supercars were getting. Didn’t make much sense.

Patrick George > BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE
08/18/2015 at 18:35

Thanks. I think it’s more useful, and we’re not limited to numbers that didn’t make sense.

Example: in the old system an 80 was a great score. I gave that to a Hellcat once. But everyone thought it was an 80/100, like a test score, and I got so much shit from people who weren’t dedicated readers. It didn’t make much sense!

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > LongbowMkII
08/18/2015 at 18:35

I won’t mention he who shall never be named :)

Patrick George > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:36

Well, tell me what direction we should be heading, because the one I’m pushing us in is better reporting, better writing, more motorcycles, more technical stuff, more adventures and just great stories in general. It won’t happen overnight but I think we have a great mix and we’re getting better every day.

Patrick George > BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE
08/18/2015 at 18:37

I reaaaallly don’t see how it’s like Buzzfeed. I wouldn’t allow that to happen.

BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:38

That’s fair. I tended to think of it as an /100 score too, so I see what you’re saying. Overall, I’d still say you guys are doing good stuff. Just be more aware of filler content I guess. And you know you can always look to Oppo for feedback.

LongbowMkII > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:38

A lot of the questions lately haven’t been begging for an answer. I think you could remine a lot of those old ones (if it is transparent) as the readers have likely changed and even the long term commenters probably have different answers than so many years ago. Also unpigeonhole yourself from questions that demand 10 unique answers. Things like which trim level of car (ex 1997 Geo Tracker) was the best and why?

Patrick George > Anima
08/18/2015 at 18:39

I’ve actually tried to be more specific about what gets shared over from other sites, stuff I know you’ll care about. We’ve also tried to tone down some of the headlines, too. I want the focus to be on great stories above all else, as well as the wacky shit that people come to us for in the first place.

We’ve also had a lot of turnover at once this year, which is normal at any publication. But we have a lot of really cool things in the works I think you’ll all like. Stay tuned.

BReLp7dzHM3ytYsE > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:39

Thanks Patrick, please don’t. Buzzfeed is the worst.

Anima > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:46

I understand the turnover thing and what I’m describing is a general feeling over the past year and a half-ish. I think recently good/great articles pop up more often, mainly the wacky stuff that really does separate you from other places. Stuff weird enough about cars that you can share it with non-car guys/girls and they still get a kick out of it.

I’m glad you are on the same wavelength and, as always with this site, so active and approachable in the community.

Like I said, I understand it’s a difficult balance.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:47

I would love if you could actually go more in depth.. Not just “it’s got a 427 big block”. Tell us more about the PDK and stuff like that, not just “it’s a doubleclutchthingy”. I guess I’m mostly upset about the trolls in the comments though. I really should not be commenting here when drunk, sorry.

Patrick George > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:49

Want more technical stuff? Come back in two weeks. I have a surprise for you.

Anima > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:51

Haha, you’ve said that before about not posting when drinking ;)

I do agree however that the comment system and the commenters are horrible. People that have been here for years are grayed out, there is no rhyme nor reason to what is visible or has priority and the general level of comments that floats up to the top is just above youtube comments.

Officer Jim Lahey is not a real cop > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 18:51

I haven’t been here for all that long, but I’ve been seeing complaints like this one since day 1.

I tend to disagree.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Officer Jim Lahey is not a real cop
08/18/2015 at 18:52

When I joined it was all rainbows and unicorns ;)

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:53

Awesome :)

Patrick George > Anima
08/18/2015 at 18:53

Stuff weird enough about cars that you can share it with non-car guys/girls and they still get a kick out of it.

That’s the goal every day! That and serve the hardcore faithful. We aim to do it all.

Anima > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 18:56

I think the inherent problem with this is the commenting system. This has been a fickle point for years and a lot of the past iterations but this one makes it harder than ever to get heard. When I see a post that has more than 10 replies, it has no use for me to reply anymore because it will disappear into the void and no one will ever read it. Hell even if there are only 2 replies you have the same problem. All of this is amplified because there is no reason to what surfaces and what doesn’t. There is no way to browse through them chronologically.

I think this is a big factor in what drove many of the front page and into the smaller Oppo community.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Anima
08/18/2015 at 18:56

I may have a slight problem with alcohol.

But yeah, I hate the bloody inane comments that add nothing, people that think the Ford 302 is the best engine ever rubs me the wrong way.

Anima > Nibby
08/18/2015 at 19:01

8 Reasons Why Buzzfeed and Gawker fucked over Jalopnik! You won’t believe number 6!

Anima > LongbowMkII
08/18/2015 at 19:02

I agree. I don’t care that he has a helicopter, he (and politics) has no place on an auto blog.

Anima > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
08/18/2015 at 19:03

Man, remember the time when we had stars? It was like Mario Party every single day!

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Anima
08/18/2015 at 19:04

Hehe.. yup.

Stef Schrader > Patrick George
08/18/2015 at 19:05

I don’t think we’d let that happen, either. The responsible party would be fed nothing but bean soup for 42 days and then sent to an oppressive country that outlawed farting. (Or simply chased out with pitchforks and torches.)