Your moderation team here at TTAC thought it might be time for a reminder on our commenting policy. The rules apply to everyone — commenters and writers alike. Recently, we’ve been a bit lax on enforcing the rules, but that time has now come to an end. Included below is the TTAC commenting policy by which we all must abide. Posting comments on TTAC constitutes an acceptance of these comment guidelines.
There are two very simple guiding rules to commenting on TTAC:
- When commenting, picture yourself being invited to a dinner party with a roomful of strangers. You probably will not attack or insult the host, or the other guests. You will get annoyed by rude and uncivilized guests. You will understand that the host will not invite people back who violate simple rules of civility. Attacking the host could mean an end of the dinner before desserts are served.
- You have a right to your opinion, you are immediately wrong if you are rude. Rude, uncivilized remarks mean an immediate loss of the argument. They also can mean a loss of commenting privileges.
However, should you feel the need for a more structured guideline, the following are TTAC’s Six Rules of Civility. Failing to adhere to these guidelines is grounds to be removed from current and future conversations:
- No personal/ad hominem attacks. One can communicate disagreement without attacking those with which they disagree.
- No racism, sexism, or bigotry.
- No spam/unwarranted self-promotion/advertising.
- No flaming/trolling.
- No political campaigning/hackery.
- And most important of all TTAC reserves the right to take away commenting privileges for any reason, even those not listed in the guidelines. We provide the comment section as a service. It is not a right. Treat it as a privilege that can be removed at any time.
Remember the civility aspect of both parts of the TTAC commenting guidelines when posting. It seems too often lately the comments leave civility in the rear view mirror, hurtling down a path toward trolling and personal attacks. This will not be tolerated.
When everyone keeps the Few Simple Tricks above in mind, the discourse remains pleasant and entertaining, and we all enjoy our time here more.
Your TTAC Moderation Team
Adam Tonge
Kyree Williams
Corey Lewis
Should have used a 2nd gen Seville done up like that for the opening pic. I think that’s about where we are at with TTAC being “Seville-ized.”
or maybe everyone needs to be more Civic minded…
If we could just be Diplomats and Ambassadors of kindness.
Fine Corinthian Ambassadors.
Better Diplomats than Marauders, I guess.
In a Prelude to Accord, we can stroll down Fifth Avenue, and greet the Silver Dawn of a new Morning without Imperial attitudes. A grand Discovery as we Aspire to a new understanding.
This post is steeped in Mystique.
@Corey Lewis:
>In a Prelude to Accord, we can stroll down Fifth
>Avenue, and greet the Silver Dawn of a new Morning
>without Imperial attitudes. A grand Discovery as we
> Aspire to a new understanding.
You… Magnificent bastard.
That was beautiful.
The Car Sentence Game is one of my favorites.
Can’t think of J-car puns that don’t sound stupid or make sense!
A-Cars? I could find 6000 different ways! They’d be the jokes of the Century, enough to make me a real Celebrity! Yes, I’d make enough money to retire to a grand estate in the Ciera-Nevada Mountains!
(Uhhhh..maybe not! :-p )
Or Mavericks
Everyone just needs to take a Plymouth Valium or Honda Quaalude.
Yes please, just looking at that pic makes me sad. 2nd gen Seville, mutilate it all you want, but leave the 1st gens alone!
E&G is the way to be.
Now you’ve finally got it.
DONT BE SO CAVALIER ABOUT IT
…or you’ll see my Talon.
Freed, my Laser will Eclipse your Talon.
—–> DSM triple word score!
That whole sentence was a bit less than NUMMI.
I’ll see your DSM triple word score and raise you one GM X-car quadruple word score.
Like a Skylark, or a Phoenix from the flame, I soar majestically, providing Citation for truth, the alpha and Omega of all things.
I’d go J-car but I have no earthly idea where J2000 gets used.
Impressive.
I am Reliant on an Aries-like bellicosity.
You are quite, LeBaron sir.
I am Old(s) but can still think of 88, 98 or even 442 ways to Insight or Dodge trolls…….but not Prowlers.
Russycle, I imagine you’ve seen this, http://ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/cadillac-seville/? It’s one of the more interesting Ate Up With Motor articles, IMO.
It sits parked 99.9% of the time, but an elderly couple in my building own one. They appear to be in their late 80s or early 90s and have to be the original owners. Lordy, does it smoke when they take it out. My optimistic side likes to believe a good servicing and a highway run to clear its lungs would get it running fine. I don’t think the Rocket 350 has seen the north side of 1,200 rpm since the 1980s. The body is in great shape.
I’d say F*85, but that word is apparently contrary to the rules of Civility.
As we Traverse from the winter Solstice to the vernal Equinox, we Aspire to Venture forth from our Rabbit-holes with hopeful Spirit, to once again suck at Golf.
Fun.
I think “Hummer” would be a little too risque to attempt. :-)
Principal Dan and all you follow-up posters are awesome! I couldn’t have thought of any better follow-up comments. Let me say that: you guys make this site great!!! Great entertainment and great fun. A good time was had by all. Carry on and keep up the great work.
Trying to be a good Sportabout it, lest some editorial Gremlin put a Javelin through one of my comments. (Yep, the first car I had was a hand-me-down AMC!)
My momma taught me that talking politics or religion was not to be done in polite company. Certainly not at the dinner table!
Never on the first date with a hottie either.
I never considered the dinner table to be polite company, but that’s just my own familial situation.
Sooooo dinner party in a room full of strangers is not the same thing as dinner party at a rowdy biker bar like in the movies.
(In all honesty, I am guilty of stepping over the line and pushing these boundaries from time to time.)
I don’t think the thing bikers are doing is still called a dinner party. That’s more “bar brawl.”
You tend to be more careful in a biker bar than at a diner party surrounded by strangers. The former is much more intolerant than the latter.
“I’m trying to use THE PHONE!”
Your reference is not lost on me.
Awesome!
TEQUILA! :-)
Biker bars (and clubhouses) don’t have “dinner parties”. And while loud and rowdy, they are usually some of the more (roughly) polite places you’ll ever be. Because loud jerks are tolerated for about thirty seconds, then taken out back and have the crap punched out of them.
There are a lot of times I wish physical contact was available on the Internet. People like, say, Dead Weight would have had their jaws (or fingers) broken a long time ago.
Twenty five years of club riding taught me long ago that I’d much rather put up with a group of drunken bikers than most opinionated, obnoxious Internet posters.
My family dinners were more like those held by Tony Manero’s family.
Mind typically went like a Jerry Springer episode but without the paternity test(s).
I believe you’re thinking of Maury, he’s the Paternity test ring leader.
I thought Maury was the King of Tragic Amputee Guests?
Only if they could DNA test the amputated limb.
“In the case of 1-year-old Fred, the amputated limb, YOU ARE THE FATHER!!!!!”
What we must realise most who comment on TTAC are emotive towards vehicle brands, types and even country of manufacture.
When the reptilian part of your melon dictates you tend to make subjective and at times imflamatory, inaccurate and immature comments.
This type of personality is generally one with a low level of emotional intelligence.
What I implore to these types look beyond what you wish and want and use hard data.
You will be surprised at the differnce being objective is like.
I do believe, and I thank the moderators for doing a fine job on TTAC.
I don’t want to see TTAC become completely like a dinner party, because I do fart and burp at the dinner table, like most who comment on TTAC, from the authors, moderators and the B&B.
Remember, some of us are abstract and objective (sincere)this doesn’t translate to stupid.
Remember, if you throw sh!t you will sometimes be dumped on.
I would again like to thank the moderators for their time, effort and fairness.
@BAFo- please re-read your post 10,000 times.
I have.
Ok. Since you have it memorized, try to run it through some higher processing centres.
I have. Maybe you should stop relying on the “Cloud” for your information. It seems to have been hacked.
I thank you for your concern.
Do these rules include the staff of TTAC?
In the second sentence, the term “writers” includes the TTAC staff.
The “no sexism” and “no political hackery” rules apply to writers now too?
Yes.
Has a certain someone been informed of this new development? Though I will miss the subsequent flame wars…
Is “political hackery” the crap that jalopnik has been on since the president was sworn in?
That’s one side of it, yes.
To April’s point (I know nothing about what happened between April and Jack, so that’s not related to my response), the staff have been major offenders, even in the articles themselves. It’s about time this was reigned in.
Commentors shouldn’t be held to the same standard. They are here to react and debate as members of the public.
It’s really quite simple. Commentors should civil. Staff should be professional (which often means saying nothing at all).
He decided to direct some transphobic insults at me (again).
I’d love to know how difficult it is for you to check your email.
What happened now?
Perhaps a few executions took place behind the building. Maybe we’ll find out eventually.
We’ll never know. Marsalis called in the Wolf and Jules and Vincent got busy.
Someone best send Jack the memo about “political hackery”.
I was waiting for this. Glad I didn’t have to wait long.
So are we actually going to implement these this time?
I feel like I remember this having happened like 37 times before when TTAC has claimed that now we’re really actually for serious going to enforce our policies for staff and commentators, for real this time, we promise.
And then about 72 hours later everything’s back to the way it was, complete with blatantly trolly articles by our valued editors.
Two things:
1) We can’t be everywhere at the same time. Unless we were to moderate every single comment manually, some bad apples are bound to get through. The moderators are volunteers. The rest of us are focused on content. But you can help us. If you see something that flies in the face of the rules outlined above, send an email to editors@ttac.com. (I’m currently looking into how we might implement a Report Comment button or something like it.)
2) There are two goals that give me eternal inner conflict: 1) allowing people to speak their minds, and 2) keeping the conversation civil. We could have completely civil conversations here every day and it would be an incredibly boring place. We could also have everyone say whatever they want and my inbox would be filled with vitriol. So, the lax attitude toward the rules is on me in an attempt to find that happy medium. Hopefully this will get us closer.
Your good-faith effort is appreciated, Mark.
“The B&B” is itself a title. If we want to collectively be called Best and Brightest, we need to comport ourselves in a way that deserves it.
A very good point, Tony. Seems to be something we all need to be mindful of.
I’ve always hated the term B&B.
We do have some exceptionally insightful commenters, but there is a real element of arrogance associated with this label. After all, the original B&B were, largely, responsible for the Viet Nam war.
Heh, yeah… as if History were straining to define “hubris”. But then It followed up with W and Rumsfeld just to make sure.
I am surprised people even still use the term, “Best & Brightest,” when it was obviously tongue-in-cheek.
Finding the balance is the trick. It can’t be easy, as I agree that good dialog is what brings many of us (and keeps many of us) here. But it has gotten a bit “twangy” lately amongst a few commentators, and that rarely adds any value to the discussion. That eventually drives folks away. I guess it’s easy to call somebody names from behind an anonymous screen name (haven’t done that, but admit that I use a screen name and not my given name…maybe that’s one of the issues?).
I think most of us are willing to give everybody a little slack from time to time, but repeated abusiveness should be course-corrected as needed.
TTAC can’t rise above the cultures wars. That is evident.
The best hope is to make it to the other side with just a few superficial wounds.
This latest “WE REALLY REALLY MEAN IT THIS TIME!” feels a little different from the previous housekeeping screeds.
If feels like prepping the B&B for the departure of a certain controversial contributor.
I hope I’m wrong.
Because no matter how satisfying that would be to the recently disaffected…THAT WOUND won’t be superficial.
The best way to deal with borderline comments is to give the B&B an ignore button.
BTW, Who the hell gets invited by a bunch of strangers to a dinner party?…and willingly goes? That’s how you lose a kidney.
“…dinner party …lose a kidney…”
I they’re going to eat *my* kidney. I’d suggest that they boil the pi$$ out of it.
Yes, I am in the habit of giving everybody a little slack as I don’t get offended easily. And, to be clear I don’t stop visiting this site if a poster or contributor says something online that offends me personally or from a political standpoint. Because, frankly, we are all entitled to our own opinions.
That all makes sense.
However, it doesn’t explain why you publish articles that are both:
-Blatant trolling on hot-button social or political topics
-Only tangentially related to cars
If business considerations require you to keep permitting these in order to get the clicks and keep the lights on that’s fine, but be upfront about it and stop pretending that you’re running a polite dinner party when the hosts are seemingly provoking disagreement just to get attention.
A fair point, and I’d like to hear the staff’s thoughts on it.
We’re going to publish pieces about hot-button issues. That’s a given here and part of TTAC’s history. Trying to find the balance of how germaine that topic is to cars or driving or the industry is where we (I) need some practice.
There’s a lot of conflict about what TTAC was, is, and should be. We have commenters and writers who’ve been around for years, and others who will likely join today. All have different perspectives and I try as much as I can to preserve those perspectives by being a fairly conservative censor. There are those who believe we are censoring too much right now. Others believe we don’t censor enough. Maybe the happy medium is when nobody is happy.
“A good compromise is when both parties are dissatisfied.”
-Larry David
Mark, that’s a very good answer.
My view is that the right balance is where the political content of a story is necessary to make a core point about the auto industry, or directly affects the auto industry. There have been a number of articles from multiple authors where there is a distant point about cars that’s lamely used to justify a political rant. When that’s the case, I think the content isn’t appropriate for TTAC.
“When that’s the case, I think the content isn’t appropriate for TTAC.”
My concern wouldn’t be that it’s inappropriate per se…more that the inevitable ensuing food fight is unworthy of the site or the people who post on it.
Flamebait begets flaming. And even the most even tempered of people can get baited into it if the topic’s right. I’m not innocent of this by any means.
There’s no good answer on how to “police” this, however.
“We’re going to publish pieces about hot-button issues. That’s a given here and part of TTAC’s history. Trying to find the balance of how germaine that topic is to cars or driving or the industry is where we (I) need some practice.”
That’s fair.
I recommend thinking in terms of “is this piece a real discussion *about* a hot-button issue, or does it merely name drop a hot-button issue in order to get people riled up?”.
There may be some grey area, but it seems like it would be pretty straightforward.
Is the article “about cars” or does it merely mention cars on its way to some other less relevant topic?
It seems like the amount of car content required to serve as a fig leaf over a post made up primarily of braggadocio and political rants has been steadily decreasing.
@bikegoesbaa:
This goes to what I posted the other day on one of Jack’s stories. The topic in general was illegal immigration and illegal drivers. It’s easy to end in flame-land with that kind of subject matter.
The way the post was presented was about 74.5% civil, but it left the reader an ambiguous picture of what the writer’s views were. Lots of folks were more than happy to fill in the blanks and assign all kind of nefarious immigrant-hating intent where there probably wasn’t any. It wasn’t hard to see where that post was going.
What if the author had framed it as a chance to discuss the topic, i.e., “well, B&B, we all know this is a problem. Here’s what I suggest: A, B, and C. What say you?”
Maybe the solution isn’t to shut down the political threads, but frame them so they’re more constructive.
FreedMike – it is tough to police but in some cases the author shouldn’t plant an IED in the story.
…and not only that, places the IED where he knows it’ll go off, and then feigns offense when it does.
FreedMike – The “oil change” article was a prime example.
Glad to see this. It is needed. I’m sure I may drifted over the line when personally attacked, but things have gotten over the line, especially since the election. No problem in taking a pro/anti stance but please avoid the insults. Mark, things like a “Report Abuse” button is available on many websites. No offense but VS really needs to upgrade the user interface….and some of the articles listed on the home page date back several years. Please consider as constructive criticism. I would not be coming back for a near decade if I was not happy with the content.
“Mark, things like a “Report Abuse” button is available on many websites. No offense but VS really needs to upgrade the user interface….and some of the articles listed on the home page date back several years.”
A button is on the way. Hold tight.
The site needs a wholesale redesign. You won’t get any arguments from me there.
And those articles you speak of on the right require a code change to focus on other categories. We can’t change those sections from the editorial side. If I could, they’d be long gone by now.
These are indeed tough decisions. I would advise you adopt the simple test of “What Would Bertel Schmitt Do?” When making them
Mark, I do get what you are saying about that “happy medium.” I would hope, as adults, that we are tolerant of others opinions and feelings. For me, going “over the line” is only when someone is intentionally mean-spirited and hateful towards another. As opposed to those times people poke fun at others in a good-natured or something less than a hateful or mean-spirited manner. There’s times we all, no matter how old we are, reveal there is still something of a little kid inside us. And, while I’m most of the time very tolerant of differing views and opinions, the only thing I see occasionally happening is a few blatant insults. That is certainly unnecessay and uncalled for, and should be dealt with.
It would also be nice that a host would apologize to a guest when they are attacked for no reason.
Leave it be.
In other words Mr. Jack Baruth can do no wrong.
Do you have anything positive to contribute? No snark, completely serious.
April S – it isn’t so much a case of “do no wrong” but a case of “mea culpa”.
I was just wondering. It was Mr. Jack Baruth who started the lastest poop storm.
April – I don’t see you commenting on cars much, but instead responding to alleged offensive comments. Your identity, lifestyle etc are irrelevant to the discussion here.
This is the last time I’m going to engage you on here.
You were emailed twice yesterday. If you bothered to check your inbox, you’d have more information and instructions to follow. However, I’m guessing you haven’t read my emails, and you’ve now ended up looking like someone who’s holier than thou because of it.
Check your damn email.
April S has been banned. I’m done with this.
Take it back to HuffPo, will ya April?
“April” had to go, but it still makes me a little sad for those exiled from the island. Some will be missed more than others, obviously, but yeah, we all lose in a way.
And what ever happened to “Calvin” or his sidekick “Pete”??
Truth About Cars…..yes that’s all we need
Thanks
You can’t handle the truth.
28-Cars-Later – “You can’t handle the truth.”
I just read an article about that. One has a tendency to dig in and be more opposition when presented with a facts that support a truth opposite to one’s world view.
It isn’t a surprise to you or I but that tends to follow political lines. In Canada they discovered that predominantly Liberal had a ratio of 1/1 climate change deniers. Traditional Conservative electoral ridings had a 5/10 denier ratio.
1/10
The truth is vague on-center, and prone to oversteer.
With hard plastics!
THIS IS ABOUT ME CALLING COREY’S WRITING DOUGGIE FRESH ISNT IT
I HAVE NO REGRETS
Yo, yo, yo, I be Douggie Fresh and I gots a sweet ride fo ya here dawg worenty ‘n all!
@tresmonos
See that’s why we can’t have nice things.
I thought it was for the time I called Corey a 12 year old…
Seriously, I apologize for that. There was no good reason to act that way.
If we were in the room together, I probably wouldn’t have said that to you.
Or at least I would try to be more humorous about it. At a minumum, standing up and ready to run out the door. ;)
Testing or gaming the rules amounts to breaking the rules.
It does now.
Will bans of commenters be announced? I would suggest they be announced so the rest of us can determine if someone was banned, or just left voluntarily.
.
.
Looking to vote people off the island?
I’m not going to announce them in a separate post if that’s what you’re asking. However, we can make it a habit to edit the offending comment to let people know if/why someone’s been banned.
Metafilter.com is a pretty good example of a well-moderated online community, maybe some of their ideas would be useful to the mods here.
Every one of you people is a dumb-a$$ moron. Especially if you’re not a white male. All of you need to educate yourselves and go read my Blogger website, and buy a couple of my fake Rolexes while you’re there. Although it might not help those of you who are sorry enough to like Fords, you vile bootlickers. The Cheeto is going to come and deport you, and he’s right about it. And who is TTAC to think they can take away my FREE SPEECH?
(Obviously a joke, and if you didn’t get that, I might have to break the comment policy for real.)
You poor snowflake.
Special snowflake.
I was under the impression that the term ‘snowflake’ alone or with it’s modifier ‘special’ was a new term to be offended by, especially by people who act like snowflakes.
I appreciate this site because it’s erred more on the side of allowing speech to offend rather than policing it and whacking people’s accounts.
I hope TTAC continues to be controversial. It’s a differentiator. People’s feelings being hurt from time to time is a good thing. It means you’re engaging in dialogue with people with whom you disagree. Imagine that.
This is the interwebs. It’s ok if it gets chippy. It’s ok if you read something that offends. This isn’t Time, Newsweek, Motor Trend or Feline Weekly.
If this site is too much, maybe it’s time to get back to work or check out some cat videos on YouTube.
“Feline Weekly” That was a catty remark!
JKR……great comment, couldn’t of stated it better myself. The type of controversial articles and resulting discussions are what keep me coming back to TTAC. It IS a differentiator between this place and other sites.
I found this place due my love and interest in cars, but it is this aspect that has kept me here for so long. If TTAC looses this, I won’t spend so much time here anymore.
As soon as hotly contested differences of opinion turn into personal barbs, that’s where I draw the line. I want to see debate, even off-topic debate. I love reading the comments as much as you guys do, and I tend to learn a lot from them too.
Thanks for saying what you did, jkross. I agree that this site is often at it’s best when there are controversial topics discussed. It motivates us all to share our own views and perspectives. That is, it helps move me from a passive viewer/reader to a participator.
I’m with JKR.
I was a Jalopnik regular (loved the old commenters), and found this place due to some complaining about B. Schmitt over there (don’t remember why), so I decided to check out TTAC.
Schmitt got me hooked, and Baruth and Schreiber keep me coming back every day; There are other excellent writers here, and I enjoy nearly all the content.
It has historically been a site where grown-ups can assemble, and (God forbid) use grown-up words. There are not many places like that left.
Let’s not turn this site beige.
BigTrucks??? You Came Back!
Could we please get Fresca in the breakroom machine, please?
That black cherry citrus flavor is Da Bomb.
What I’m talkin’ about!
Drinking one and grinning this very instant
In the bottles. Old school, please.
In case none of you has noticed a whole section of comments on JB’s piece on radio commercials was removed. I like to think that my challenge to MS for disciplining JB played a part.
I applaud MS for bravely and sensibly managing TTAC and censoring his most valuable writer.
Nothing self-congratulating there. No, none at all. Do you want a participation trophy too?
Seriously. It’s not like he accomplished some embroidery or something.
RS. Thank you for showing your mean spirited self as if your pathetic writings are not proof enough. At least the stuff that Jack writes is interesting and engaging.
01 Deville,
Jack doesn’t believe in what he writes. His stories are just that, tales of what he dreams or has missed in life.
He’s similar to Trump in how he views success. Its all about me and perception as is Jack’s case.
big al
i’m gonna tell on you….
You are most likely correct, but most of the time he is fun to read and is usually a good wordsmith. He is one of those writers that I can’t stay away from. However personal sexist attacks in the comments section were too much.
Ronnie … come on, man.
But Mark…that wasn’t bad.
Sarcastic, sure, but not worthwhile your admonishment.
Is sarcasm now bad?
And what exactly is trolling these days?
Really, most headlines are.
After all, I commented to Big Al because he snuck in a trump comment and if one can, we all can.
Perhaps not really politicking…but not really car talk.
This is the tortured work ahead for censors once lines get drawn.
Comments that are nasty are kinda like the old porn quote from a politician I can’t recall…I know it when I see it.
But that definition is really put into words.
Any time a poster brings in a snipe at a pol or event there’s others gonna feel obligated to respond.
No matter how small.
I for one don’t like to let snarky hits go by.
And Ronnie is a soulmate of mine even if he would feel pain and self doubt hearing.
So DeVille you pushed for censorship and got some. Congratulations! You must feel like you achieved something worthwhile!!
I didn’t push for blanket censorship nor I would expect MS to do that. My original comment was not for gloating but to answer some queries as to the background of this moderation post.
I am sure that I am not the only one that enjoys the lively and at times provocative debate comments section on this site provides, but uncalled for personal and sexist attacks should be out of line and I said as much. MS listened and I believe took a measured action. To be fair April was trolling Jack and has done that to Bark as well.
Censored TTAC will be a dull place but enforcing basic decency is I think important in encouraging more people to comment.
“I like to think that my challenge to MS for disciplining JB played a part.”
You’re wrong, but you can believe what you wish.
Thanks Mark. I have no idea how to pull off the balancing act needed. It looked likely to me like multi level baiting was going on, but accurately assigning motivations to others actions isn’t my strong suit.
I know what you are saying. Like Mark seems to do, I generally give people the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes stuff posted by certain long-time contributors seems deliberately offensive and provocative, when I pick up that it’s only an attempt to be snarky and poke fun.
I did think about quitting this morning, then I decided to take a day off TTAC and do some work.
Some readers do seek out controversial, exciting commentary and come here to find it. Rhetorically pooping on someone’s dinner plate is also exciting and controversial, but you can find that anywhere. TTAC can and should do better than internet flamebait from 12-year-olds discovering politics.
The alt-right ilk on this sight have little to add about vehicles while causing commentary rows. I’m glad Bark is gone. Jack can be a great writer on automobiles and any other inanimate object he cares about. However, Jack’s I’m a privileged, solidly middle class, white man who’s being picked on schtick is just that, schtick. When he gets like that, he’s not writing about cars, hes writing about his personal views. He has mentioned he has an English degree from Miami (the one that was a college before Florida was a state). I’m sure he had to some research while getting his degree. Sadly, it seems his article about the CIA crashing cars had none. It was just him espousing his opinions. TTAC’s golden boy isn’t so golden in some peoples eyes. Perhaps he should join Bark in exile?
Baruth is the reason this place still exists.
And there in lies the rub. This place exists not to inform you about what the latest options are on the new brown diesel wagon, it exists to sell advertising. Jacks articles get the clicks.
I will say though, someone a few weeks ago posted a chart showing declining readership overall on this site so those may be coming at a cost.
Go back to the Farago days of strict word limits and car only articles if you wish, but I’m not sure how the corporate owners of this site would take that.
“I will say though, someone a few weeks ago posted a chart showing declining readership overall on this site so those may be coming at a cost.”
I didn’t see the chart, but I can tell you that’s total hogwash. If it came from a third-party analytics provider with no hook into our traffic via javascript or some other code implement, it’s at best an approximation.
We have two ways of measuring traffic internally: Google Analytics and Jetpack (which is made by the same company, Automattic, as WordPress).
Google Analytics shows February brought in more readers than any month since March 2014. Also of note, GA typically under reports traffic because a lot of people use ad blocking and other privacy plugins. Jetpack is a better gauge of traffic, and shows larger numbers, but it’s far from the industry standard and its analytical tools are far behind those offered by Google.
It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. Last year was rough. Fortunately, we know the reasons why and have corrected them. Our traffic went in the toilet when we ditched our news feed after Aaron left. I’m talking about double-digit percentages of declines. The Facebook overlay also hindered traffic. Now news is back, the overlay is gone, we’ve had some massive pieces in the last six months, and traffic is at a level not seen since 2012 and 2014.
Well as a fan of the site I am glad to hear that Mark. I am also glad you are cracking down on the political trolling. I probably push the lines from time to time but rest assured it is simply bourbon and not malice.
So will these new rules apply to folks that use of the phrase “Lil’ Troll” in every response?
Anyway, I will say I think the site is trending upward lately.
Maybe you should just treat Jack’s political diatribes like Vegas…whatever happens in the comments in there stays there and keep a more civil tone everywhere else. His writing just lends itself to that. You don’t get these car-storms in Piston Slaps or Ace of Base segments.
Crap-Storm…not Car Storm
For those not fully getting the Miami reference from el scotto, Miami University is in Oxford, Ohio. That is in SouthWest Ohio.
I call bull****. Who has time to read every single article, all the comments. Including those involving Volvos, random minivans, odd CUVs, ugly Nissans, subcompact stats/pie charts, etc? I guarantee you they don’t!
They just have to whine, snivel, and otherwise make a lot of noise. Probably since their workplace, commute and or home, demands keeping their opinions to themselves, and or SILENCE (!!!).
And are they supposing, every *removed* “only tangentially related” articles will be promptly replaced by something more of their liking?
I find there’s already a perfect balance here.
But I say get a life. Get a hobby. It’s a vast internet. And an even bigger world outside your mom’s basement.
Here’s an idea, for those out of ideas, and great at being a PITA. “Log Out” every now and again.
Flood the “comments section” of Australian autoblogs as pompous Americans, completely full of themselves, *telling* them how to run their auto industry (or lack thereof), and point out everything wrong with their troubled, pathetic society…
That would be interesting and novel.
Australia still has an auto industry?
Li’l Al,
Yes. An industry with no handouts, protection, etc.
Oddly enough it is reforming, but not in the traditional sense. What is uneconomical to produce isn’t produced.
Australia produces design and engineering. Good paying middle class jobs.
Companies like FCA are sending over HD Rams partially disassembled to HSV for RH conversion.
Remember there are far more auto industry jobs outside of manufacturing, car dealers, mechanics, tyre shops, auto shops and on and on. This doesn’t include the construction of infrastructure, parking, traffic control and cops.
The whole industry related to the car is massive. Even our mines from being the largest exporter of lithium, iron, aluminium and coal.
I think to many car buffs can’t see the forest through the trees.
Australia directly and indirectly gains from tje auto industry more than the visible manufacturing side.
Some food for thought.
So you have some outsourced work from other nation’s, like the US’s Auto industry.
You don’t produce design and engineering, you perform some design and engineering work for companies based in other nations, primarily the US and Japan. Not to diminish Australia’s contributions but your Auto industry doesn’t exist without the US, Japan, etc.
Yes, the auto industry is massive. Again, The US Auto Industry is 1/3 the size of your country’s entire economic output. There is some food for thought.
And yes, your mining industry is big, but not that big. My research shows you 7th in Aluminum (Behind the US…Must be all those F150’s LOL).
The “handouts” were necessary for GM’s survival, but remaining OEMs and surviving suppliers, would’ve easily soldiered on, no doubt stronger than before.
I don’t agree with US import tariffs or other “barriers”, but they don’t affect much and are mostly inconsequential. The biggest winners are based in Japan, Korea and Germany anyway.
Sorry. Bauxite that is used for Aluminium.
All I have to add – and it isn’t much – is that the writers set the tone for most of the attitudes of the comments made.
When certain types of language is used, whether it is profanity, needless snarky phrases, personal or political opinions occur in the writing, you get what you get. It’s a double-edged sword either way.
You can edit and censor all you want when necessary, but a good look in a mirror may not be a bad thing from time to time.
“You can edit and censor all you want when necessary, but a good look in a mirror may not be a bad thing from time to time.”
Agreed.
I was hoping that the editors would rein in some of these same dull guys who feel obligated to comment (or 2 cents) on anything written. The same guys over and over again. I have a bit of news for you all, no one but yourselves are amused by your observations. If you don’t have anything intelligent to add to the subject, keep away from the keys.
Or don’t poke the bear as April was doing. Log out and move on. Posting in one of Baruth’s political rants is akin to calling Howard Stern, you know good and darn well how it is going to go down but you want to hear yourself on the radio so you do it anyway.
@Big Al–Good analogy. May I add that Jack should practice what he preaches. We all have opinions and we should all be respective of each others opinions. We can respectfully disagree. I believe Jack’s attack on April was too much. Sometimes it is better not to say anything.
To bad.
Think it’s all about the absence of video and sound and this is the built in problem with writing and texting. Somehow the true feelings never come across and interpretations are wrong.
Not enough time is spent thinking about what we are saying or we are just not good enough writers.
I know. I suck. And became even more damaged after the stroke. I tried to write…and reread later that day before sending…but I fail.
I sit around every morning with tennis players and pickleballers and the trash talk is followed by howls of belly breaking laughing. Seems we can say stuff face to face and get the humorous meaning, but when texted or typed…thins are read in that are simply wrong.
We should be allowed to have big time fun here and still cover every issue. We just get so full of ourselves and think we are just unquestionably brilliant and should never be questions.
Think the first thing we should do is laugh a ourselves and our own thoughts.
Hell, we are just a inch ahead of the monkey and no more significant than a weed.
No matter how smart/powerful we think we are, fate always wins.
That’s what we share, I suppose.
Future Fertilizers of America!
MAGA!
and my fav self denigrating quote of all time by I THINK Mark Twain goes like this, sorta: Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt.
Or maybe it was Lincoln.
No…perhaps it was Maurice Switzer….I dunno.
Thing is…I simply can’t resist. I must be proud of being an idiot. Most of what I write shows I am screaming out for help! Just glad I don’t get to relisten to things I say…
E’rybody sure gets riled over a free website.
I’m just happy to read stuff by smart people while supplies last.
Some good points, OldMan. When people feel the need to complain about free stuff…well they’ve probably got too much free time on their hands. Maybe they need to actually do something constructive with their lives. It’s all our own perogative to sort the wheat from the chaff.
I just read all the comments from top to bottom.
What is apparent is the MAJORITY don’t want censorship that inhibits freedom of constructive thought and dialogue.
I also see the MINORITY want more controls placed on certain writers/authors and possibly commentors. This I totally disagree with. Let the writers loose, even Jack Sparrow Baruth.
It takes all types to make the world in which we live work. TTAC is quite successful from what I have gathered in that ALL types do have the freedom for their input and continue to do so.
My question is, WTF is really wrong with TTAC?
Not much. I think the site has progressed well with the inclusion of Adam, Kyree and Corey as moderators.
This one time, I will agree with you. In fact I’d like to see some of the banned posters and staff that has departed return. I miss BigTrucks and say what you will, but Bertel had some fantastic insight.
On this topic I agree with you guys.
I support this. Unless someone crosses over into a statement that meets the definition for libel or that abrogates their Human Rights protections, then let them publish.
And for those comments that result in banishment, leave them but redact the offensive parts.
When I worked in an extremely volatile environment we maintained a Hall of Shame where we publicly listed by name those who were banned. Much like when Jerry Seinfeld’s bounced cheque was posted over the case register.
Back in the early days of this site those that were banned would be awarded the avatar I currently use. I would gladly give it up were we to reinstate that.
Arthur,
Back in the old days, pre political correctness, were I worked we had “C0ck of the Week”.
This was awarded to the person who made made the most ridiculous comment or perfomed the most ridiculous act.
The person had to wear a skull cap with a penis on to and ring a ships bell 7 times. One for each day of the week.
He also received free beers on the Friday when the “winner” was announced.
Times have changed. Rather than calling it a “shame list” we could call it something else.
The moderators could select the “winners” and the winners receive a Texas Edition badge from Jack Sparrow Baruth.
Didn’t you win a Texas Edition Badge? I want to see it affixed to the fender of your truck!
“The person had to wear a skull cap with a peni$ on to and ring a ships bell 7 times. One for each day of the week.
He also received free beers on the Friday when the “winner” was announced.”
See stuff like this is why no matter how much you and your little buddy RobertRyan enrage me at times I just can’t hate you guys. That is awesome.
“The person had to wear a skull cap with a penis on to and ring a ships bell 7 times. One for each day of the week.
He also received free beers on the Friday when the “winner” was announced.”
See stuff like this is why no matter how much you and your little buddy RobertRyan piss me off at times I just can’t hate you guys. That is awesome.
I was late to the “party” but I understand that “Dictators”, “Mavericks” and “Rebels” will not be tolerated.
I would be sad if TTAC stopped having a few exciting and edgy articles. They’re certainly easy enough to avoid if you don’t like them, or don’t like a specific author. And that’s cool.
But lobbying to have them removed, so no one can enjoy them? Not Cool.
Agreed.
F*CK CENSORSHIP!!!
I’M GOING BOWLING & GETTING HAMMERED (not driving, in case anyone was wondering).
SMELL Y’ALL LATER, SUCKAS!!!
“I’M GOING BOWLING & GETTING HAMMERED”
In my state, thousands of people with rusty Grand Caravans and Cherokees are saying the same thing right now.
I’m watching TV on my 100 inch screen and getting hammered. But I’m branching out…I’ll be doing Manhattans instead of Old Fashioned tonight!
TTAC Staff, nice work on airing your dirty laundry and listening to and replying to complaints. Why not do a “We love Ourselves” article and ask the B&B what they think you do right?
Yes. With the lack of comments on most articles here lately, I’m thinking it’s time for a TTAC Deathwatch – that would complete the circle of life.
Redmondjp,
I do believe TTAC can improve via more involvement of the writers in the comments section.
Many TTAC article are just “cut and paste” articles.
The writers need to produce opinion pieces regarding the industry …… in their word with their views. Let the B&B pick their brains.
But the owners need to invest to improve the site. These sites are like any industry, if investment in the site is deficient the site will die.
Mark only has so much to work with to keep this site afloat the best he can.
Maybe those with experience running these sites can help Mark, he’s young and doing his best with what resources that are available to him.
Coach and mentor him. A larger vibrant “industry” is more important in the end, like the auto industry.