Nostalgia: The Best of OPPO (now OppoBlog)

"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
08/17/2020 at 11:45 • Filed to: Best of Oppositelock

For you Opponauts that joined us after 2014, there was, once upon a time, a regular feature called The Best of OPPO . It was a glorious thing...

but it took A LOT of regular work from our faithful servant !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Also, when “front page” shares became a thing of the past, the potential reward vs. expended effort became a lot less attractive equation for both Best of OPPO compilations and Best-of-OPPO-worthy posts.

Anyway, here are !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , if you’d like to take a look, and don’t forget that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

DISCUSSION (30)

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/17/2020 at 12:01

Hello!

I was on an Oppo/Kinja “hiatus” for roughly three years and now I’m curious about the front page shares.

Is there any info out there about why stuff isn’t shared anymore? Is it copyright related or something? Of course I noted the additional info you have to provide for the uploaded pics.

And great job for keeping the Oppoblog goi ng!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/17/2020 at 12:07

And don’t forget that you can chose to read the content of any day in the kinjaverse very easily.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/lets-muck-about-in-the-past-kinja-implements-an-amazing-1844475399

I have noticed you’d kept adding posts there and I appreciate that. Especially since sometimes a good post will get buried and I’ll miss it .

Too bad the FP and Oppo’s relationship has become so precarious. I’ve been going over there more since the new guy took over, since it seems like more actual content has been posted. I think there has been a positive change over there.

Brickman > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer
08/17/2020 at 12:09

I remember someone was thinking they were an auto journalist and got to drive fancy cars then they crashed and it backfired on Jalopnik? I could be wrong, most likely.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer
08/17/2020 at 12:10

So, our domain used to be oppositelock.jalopnik.com and we were an officially unofficial sub-blog of Jalopnik. At some point, a few things happened to screw that up... At least one Oppo author conned a press loaner to review because of the association to Jalopnik, and there was also some issue with using photos from whoever/wherever and the veracity of what was written in some Oppo posts. Anyway, the lawyers got involved at some point and the official link between OPPO and Jalopnik was severed (to the detriment of both, IMHO).

Thanks! Hope it’s a benefit to some Opponauts.

lone_liberal > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer
08/17/2020 at 12:12

I think it went away Kinja-wide when one post was found to be plagiarized . I think it was on io9 or Gizmodo but I don’t really remember.

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/17/2020 at 12:15

Thanks for the info! :-)

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
08/17/2020 at 12:16

Yeah, that’s a cool tool.

You’re very welcome - thanks for helping to make OPPO awesome!

Let’s hope so. I’d love to see the relationship be rekindled. Would be interesting to show Jalopnik’s web metrics in relationship to their connection to OPPO. Their numbers have been falling off a cliff, but I wonder if that decline started around the time that they cut ties...

Cash Rewards > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer
08/17/2020 at 12:16

Combination of what some people had said. Yes to someone in OPPO scoring a press loaner. Also, it was io9, where a shared story from their version of OPPO (observation deck) was nearly word for word plagiarized from a wired (?) article. All sharing ceased, and domain names changed.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Cash Rewards
08/17/2020 at 12:17

Thanks for clarifying.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/17/2020 at 12:22

The actual content has been better lately. About 2 months ago it was genuinely awful with almost no original content, a few editorials of other articles, and Kinja Deals ads.

They just don’t seem to realize the community in the comments section is one of the best on the internet (well, used to be?) and that they need to acknowledge that.

HammerheadFistpunch > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/17/2020 at 12:31

I want to shoutout to the efforts that kept this going in the past and keeps it going today. It’s a cool effort and more work than reward for sure. Thanks!

boredalways > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/17/2020 at 12:56

Love it! Please make a sticky tag so it sits among Oppo Rally, Rules of the Road, etc.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/17/2020 at 13:12

And, so we’re clear, most days the posts over here are far more interesting, far more likely to ( at least tangentially) involve something automotive and far more prone to interesting, substantive comments from the Commentariot.

All due respect to Elizabeth, who’s back on staff, but I can’t handle a full weekend of FP posts about obscure racing series I have no interest in. I REALLY miss Mack Hogan, who brought a diversity of weekend perspectives to the stream on the FP.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > boredalways
08/17/2020 at 13:47

I’m not a mod, so you’d have to ask one of them. From what I understand, they can’t add OppoBlog there, just a link to a tag (so they could add The Best of OPPO).

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > HammerheadFistpunch
08/17/2020 at 13:49

You’re welcome, for my part, and thanks for your help!

boredalways > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/17/2020 at 13:49

They should be able to, unless they are limited to a set number of stickies.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > boredalways
08/17/2020 at 13:52

Yes, the tag they should be able to do.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
08/17/2020 at 13:59

Yes, there has been a recent uptick (David Tracy’s been on a roll).

As much as Kinja can suck, it’s much better than most others (not counting traditional forums). Jalopnik’s survival definitely depends on the health of its comment section - I often click on a headline just to see what other Jalops have to say below the article, and the good conversations you sometimes find there.

adamftw > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/17/2020 at 16:21

Ughhhhhh I miss my 2.5RS

Danny Korecki > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/24/2020 at 00:21

You know, I have heard this Oppo-author-press-loaner story a few times as well. Any info I got basically ended with “it happened”, but no details .

It is likely that whoever pulled the con is not in the industry anymore and it was their attempt to enter, but for fun I will choose to believe that whoever did it is just riding the waves of being blacklisted haha

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Danny Korecki
08/24/2020 at 09:04

It’s interesting. Back when OPPO was getting more views, and shares to the FP, I honestly don’t see anything wrong with someone saying they were an author here, showing off their work, and getting a press car. Now, I’m guessing did bring up Jalopnik when they made the pitch, and that’s what really caused the problem.

Danny Korecki > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/24/2020 at 09:39

Yeah, I mean even now honestly I have seen Oppo posts get more views/clicks than some sites/channels out there that get cars.

I would on day love to learn the full details on the “Oppo-press-car-urban-legend” though.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Danny Korecki
08/24/2020 at 09:41

Yeah, would be fun to know.

The Kinja SEO does do a good job of getting views, especially with the right keyword in the title (11k views on your C8 video, 17k on the S4 ).

Danny Korecki > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/24/2020 at 12:33

Haha, I just wish people would click the darn video . 11k only = 3.4k YT views and 17k = 2.6k YT views. So 30% click through on one and 15% on the other, not bad, but still not good.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Danny Korecki
08/24/2020 at 12:35

That’s crazy. What does YouTube need to register a view? Just a click, or a certain number of seconds of viewing?

Danny Korecki > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
08/24/2020 at 13:13

I think it i s 30 seconds, but I think based on all my other YT analytics it is just people clicking or scrolling through an article (since you can do that on Kinja) and not clicking play on the video.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Danny Korecki
08/24/2020 at 13:25

Makes sense, I guess. For example, a very small percentage of people take the time to watch a video in their feed - many are just just scrolling through to make sure they don’t miss anything from the day before. Also, there are a good number who are probably coming to your post while browsing at work, and that prevents them from watching/listening to any videos.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Danny Korecki
10/14/2020 at 09:57

I know I usually don’t click on videos because I often am in an online class or am doing something else at the time. Videos are limited to snack breaks and I try not to take too many of those.

But yeah, I know how that feels. I’ve made a few videos for Oppo and the get very few views.

Danny Korecki > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
10/14/2020 at 21:43

yeah like the ones I think are really good might get 100 views. the ones that are meh get 7k or something odd like that

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Danny Korecki
10/14/2020 at 23:00

That could just as easily be said of any Opportunities post. The worst thing I've ever published here is my all time highest viewed post.