Nipping This One In The Bud
I’m not sure if it was the nice shout-out I got the other night on the radio from Kevin Lee that brought in a whole new crowd; or the fact that I dared to compare Bruno Junqueira to Franck Montagny. Whatever the case, it set off a firestorm on this site yesterday that I had never seen before — and quite frankly, I didn’t like it.
When I started Oilpressure.com last spring, it was due to the urging of family and friends that knew I had a passion for IndyCar racing and they thought I should start a blog site. I really knew nothing about blogging, so I just started typing away on topics about the sport that were near and dear to my heart. To my surprise, people that I didn’t know started reading it. Soon, I began getting comments and e-mails from the regular readers in Indianapolis, Minnesota, Florida and even London and Malaysia on a steady basis. The comments were all the same. They appreciated my levelheaded approach and liked the historic quips that I threw into the articles. Not everyone agreed with what I said and let me know in a friendly, civilized way. We would swap a few e-mails back and forth, with either a consensus agreed upon or else a polite agreement to disagree.
It was all in good fun and I’ve developed some nice relationships with readers over the past few months. Another common theme from readers has been that they enjoy this site because it doesn’t have all of the garbage that so many of the forums and hate sites have. I don’t have the cleanest vocabulary around, but I vowed from day one that I would keep this site clean and pretty much G-rated.
If you’ll notice, there are no ads on this site. I have no aspirations to make money from this. I have not invested a dime into it, nor will I ever make money keeping this site going. It is not my goal to try and draw excessive numbers to this site. My goal is to continue to slowly grow the numbers of responsible, respectful and loyal readers. I write this blog because I love the sport. I am deeply concerned about several aspects of the sport, but I still love the sport and I try to communicate that to fans who have the same love of the sport that I do. The vast majority of the readers that have grown over this summer, seem to appreciate this site for what it is — a site put together by a fan, for fans. They don’t have to share my thoughts, only my passion for the sport. It has been more enjoyable than I ever imagined.
At least that was the case, up until yesterday. Without trying to sound completely sanctimonious, I don’t want that kind of traffic. This site is not a forum, nor will it ever become one. I purposely avoid the forums because of the venom that spews from them. I wrote an article last week about “The Legions Of The Miserable”. Well, the legions were out in force yesterday. The going back and forth on the comment section yesterday bordered on becoming a hate-forum.
Please don’t get me wrong. I have had many readers that have strongly disagreed with my articles and opinions. They take their shot, express their side and we move on. Before yesterday, I had never had any comment on this site cause me any concern. I wasn’t concerned that someone had attacked my view. That was nothing new. I’m pretty thick-skinned and can take it. I knew that there would be barbs thrown my way when I got into this.
What upset me was the direction that the comments took between readers. This was when the site took on the appearance of some of the flame-wars that you see on the most bitter of forums. Yesterday was a record day in the number of hits to this site. I have always been extremely grateful and flattered for anyone to migrate to this site and read my ramblings about IndyCars. But I wouldn’t give you a nickel for yesterday’s traffic. It was a cheap and sleazy way of getting a lot of hits – and it was certainly not my intention with what I considered a fairly benign article.
Please don’t think I am trying to alienate readers or discourage comments. I’m not. I encourage and enjoy the comments and appreciate opposing viewpoints, so long as they are well thought out and presented responsibly. I welcome well-placed humor. It’s when the comments take on the tone of a fifth-grader that makes me lose my patience.
Without trying to sound elitist and snobbish, the everyday readers of this site have always been very well informed, open-minded and above all else – polite and well mannered. That is what I always felt held this crowd above the other sites. They know how to discuss issues in a friendly, yet direct manner. I must enter a disclaimer here…when I say other sites; I’m only talking about the extreme IRL hate sites and forums. I’m not talking about Pressdog, My Name Is IRL, Planet-IRL, 16th and Georgetown, Silent Pagoda or some of the other IndyCar blog sites. Those sites are great and those bloggers have been very helpful to me as I get started.
It’s the trash-mouth forums that encourage the legions of the miserable that I personally have no use for and shy away from. Ironically, I saw my own site devolving into that type of cesspool yesterday. I felt that it was time to take control of things and to nip this thing in the bud, before things got too out of hand.
There won’t be a poll question for this article. There is no need for one. Thanks for allowing me to rant and as always – thanks to those readers who have been so loyal in following my writings. I try to have a mixture of articles regarding current concerns and issues within the IRL, profiles of drivers who should or should not be driving; lighthearted observations loosely related to racing and of course – any topic that pertains to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. If that’s what you are looking for, then you’re in the right place. If you’re looking to stir the pot with some flame-war forum – then I kindly suggest you go elsewhere. There are many sites devoted to that sort of thing. This isn’t one of them.