Let's hold DT admins to the same standards we held Jalopnik against
-
Part of the reason why Oppo was able to maintain such a solid relationship with Jalopnik (and most of Gawker) over the years is that we didn't take shit from anyone and only tolerated the worst knowing that it's not always the writers' faults. If there are inaccuracies, we called them out. If we got a lead, we let them know. If we reckon we can tell a story better than they can, we send them a line and let us contribute.
DriveTribe, on the other hand, is a different animal. With interest topics already fenced-in, you can conceivably be part of any number of interest tribes where you can write about something and not be worried about losing an audience to self-posts or shitposting. So if you are to write a foreigner's guide to Super GT or share a heartwarming Craigslist adventure, you always have a guaranteed audience.
This makes the "Oppo on DT" arrangement tricky. We don't fall into any single tribe because we never had that demarcation, to begin with, and anyone who wants to share their story here is still going to get full reads. Yet obviously DT has a dedicated curation system that weeds out the chaff and highlights the best, at times to the global front page where you're sure to engage even more people. This makes general assessments to the site hard to pin down, but it also means that if they respond, it matters.
Here I am, a relative newcomer to this space (compared to other LaLD members), actively calling out the admins NOW so that we know that they are on the side of the Creators' Programme, at least. And Jonathan Morris responded with. a measured, reasonable take. I still won't take the CEO's words at face value, but in the short-term, I am assured that they are listening even if I push the formality and decency envelope to the limits it can go. But I don't think I need that.
Because we can meme them to kingdom come if they slip up or actively undermine. We can ruffle their feathers on Discord, create grievances threads where readers can complain, and talk to them closely in case something goes wrong. That's the most important thing: this level of cooperation also comes with a responsibility to be both transparent and blunt. After all, we were the ones who got repeatedly burned by a system that we sort of loved to hate and hated to love.
DriveTribe in its current form is only adequate. It doesn't have as many editing tools, it doesn't hotlink photos (much less display them at full upload size), the mobile version still leaves much to be desired and navigation can be confusing at first. But think of how much we may be asking of DT as a site: not only does it have to take in an even bigger number of new users, it also has to implement features that can rival jminer's remake and old Kinja, a lofty task that may not pay off as fruitfully in the long run. And as a community, it'd be quite a shock to see the diaspora change.
I won't advocate for picking sides -- it's counterproductive and won't help. But I think there is a happy medium that works as a win-win. See, I’ve always thought that Oppo was at its best when it can shitpost AND be a legit engaging blog AND accost the writers for inconsistencies along with calling out management woes as well as help them resolve rifts between audience and publication AND be a general car, bike and machine advice forum. All we have to ensure is that the admins, mods and top writers know what happens when you forsake the core readership in place of chasing a new audience who won’t care about reading the site without that core being already there. I want the new site to not only succeed but to also have a cooperative symbiotic relationship that resembles classic Oppo from the early ‘10s.
Treat Oppo like an audience union or club, one that can support writers and readers and lurkers alike. We can't ever please everybody, but it's better to have Oppo be a jack-of-all-trades community than be a one-note forum. Knowing what happened in G/O, let's make sure that DT doesn't make the same mistakes -- and let this site show them that we won't miss them when we leave.
We've been burned once before. Let's at least not scorch our bodies a second time.
-
-
[looks around] This isn't DT, is it?
-
I agree with your opinion of what makes Oppo great. It is the way this large and diverse community comes together and seems to possess knowledge of just about everything that keeps me coming back. It would be a mistake to try to hem it in as having a single focus. It's hour rules, it's car reviews, it's calling out the herbs, it's coming together for all sorts of things.
Drive Tribe is good but I'm not sure how we fit into their ecosystem. For instance, if I want to post a DOTS I also tag it in their 'Spotting' category and people view that from the main spotting page in addition to people viewing it from the Oppo page.
