DriveTribe - online car community from Clarkson/May/Hamond

[Blink982]

I have yet to find anything useful on it and it just looks a mess and a bit pointless to be honest. Even logging in is painful.

[suffolk009]

RoverP6B said:

And now they're wanting their users to run the website for them... https://drivetribe.com/p/want-to-become-a-drivetri...

Yeah, I saw that. Made me laugh.

I wonder how much money they sank into it?

Can't be long until they just turn it off.

[Moose of Death]

I'm currently one of the morons who's been attempting to write for that site. It's been an interesting exercise in frustration, as I've done fairly well in there, but recently discovered that they have recently hired a lot of idiots as various employees have either abandoned ship, or were let go due to lackluster site performance. I have access to data that indicates that the place is sinking, but according to everyone I've talked to there, yes, the desktop traffic is way down, but app traffic is way up, never mind nothing I've seen indicates that it's trending upward...anywhere.

I've begun to address the site as Automobile TMZ, as it's really nothing more than an automotive-based, celebrity lifestyle page. Anything star-related stays on top of their main feed, and anything intelligent quickly sinks to the bottom. You know, Clickbait.

I've also recently attracted the ire of their new head of content, who pulled a piece of mine a few days ago, because he thought that my CLEARLY-LABELED satire was my attempt to impersonate corporate entities and/or individuals, never mind I didn't use any actual 'people' in this particular article, indicating that he hadn't actually read the piece in question, he simply deleted it. I then find out that I'm being lied to as to why it's actually been pulled, as their Harlow School of Journalism hire can't make up his mind as to why the piece was actually pulled. He then went as far as to write a hit piece against me, accusing me of attempting to impersonate corporate entities or famous persons.

[timrud]

Why not post it here so we can make our own mind up

[Moose of Death]

timrud said:

Why not post it here so we can make our own mind up

Where? In General Gassing? The forum format in here doesn't work that well for that sort of thing, but I'm all for trying it out.

This was the last piece I posted in there:
https://drivetribe.com/p/unemployed-circus-clowns-...

[RDMcG]

Was turned off immediately by the initial requirement to log in through Facebook. Looked like a data mining exercise.

[Moose of Death]

RDMcG said:

Was turned off immediately by the initial requirement to log in through Facebook. Looked like a data mining exercise.

Try it this way:
https://drivetribe.com/p/unemployed-circus-clowns-...

[leglessAlex]

Moose of Death said:

Where? In General Gassing? The forum format in here doesn't work that well for that sort of thing, but I'm all for trying it out.

This was the last piece I posted in there:
https://drivetribe.com/p/unemployed-circus-clowns-...

So... Someone genuinely thought that was impersonating someone/something? Are they mad?

It was a funny piece, it was rather Sniff Petrol and raised a smile.

[Moose of Death]

leglessAlex said:

So... Someone genuinely thought that was impersonating someone/something? Are they mad?

It was a funny piece, it was rather Sniff Petrol and raised a smile.

That's not the piece in question, lol. That last particular piece was posted after the one that was banned, as sort of a 'please ban me forever' article.

This is the text of the deleted piece below:

SURPRISE NEWS: RED BULL AIR RACE TO RUN INDOORS DURING 2018 LONDON MOTOR SHOW

ALL RACING PLANES WILL FLY AND COMPETE AT THE SAME TIME, TO MAXIMIZE EXCITEMENT FOR SPETATORS INDOORS.

BATTERSEA PARK, LONDON, ENGLAND: With less than a week to go, a group of officials for Confused.com, Drivetribe.com, and The 2018 London Motor Show have just given a bombshell press release, in that the Red Bull Air Races will be coming to this year's Motor Show, and not only that, but the entire race will be ran...indoors.

A lead PR official gave a more-detailed explanation.

"We have been trying to get the Red Bull Air Race here for the last several years, but race management has been concerned about our unpredictable London weather during the month of May, so they have remained skeptical about committing to run that event. What we've done is present a viable business plan where they could simply run their entire race, indoors, and weather would never be a problem. Red Bull Air Race management has graciously accepted our offer, and will run their special event inside the main hall here at Battersea Evolution."

The official continued.

"What we are really admitting, however, is that we not only wanted the Red Bull Air Race to show up at the 2018 Confused.com London Motor Show, but we wanted the show attendees to be able to get as close as they could to the planes themselves, and maximize the exiting rush of being at an air race, but with a much-closer proximity to the planes. We have created a 27-mile-long race course inside of the building, through the use of creative paths throughout, and where the ceiling space permitted, it is double-decker action, with a few sections of double-stacked racing. In addition, we've also hung all of those giant, bright-orange course marker cones from the ceiling, so neither static displays or pedestrian traffic is affected."

"With what we have done inside the main hall and where the planes will be flying and racing, and in some cases, with only centimeters to spare between a speeding plane and the heads of show spectators, we've given you the closest possible proximity to the action. Any closer, and you would be touching the planes as they speed by you. Violently touching."

"In fact, if you are any taller than two meters, and/or are a star basketball player, it is probably a good idea for you to either stay home, wear some kind of leather crash helmet, or spend most of your time indoors ducking your head or stooping as if you were perpetually going through a low doorway. Raising your hands to alert a friend or family member to your location is probably a bad idea as well, as it might get hit, and/or be politely removed by a wing or a propeller. With the noise that will be generated by all of the airplanes that will be racing at the same time inside the building, shouting at anyone will be something of a useless endeavor anyway."

"It might actually be a good thing that Jeremy Clarkson wasn't invited to attend, as he doesn't follow safety directions very well, and with his height, he would probably get drilled several times during any routine trip to a drinks vendor."

"We do have some warnings, however, for show attendees who might have some funny ideas for what they might be thinking of doing while the planes are racing inside the building."

"For starters, any spectator that is caught throwing a sandwich into the air so a propeller of a flying race plane can slice it in half for them, they'll be thrown out straight away. While London is now paranoid about both plastic and metal knives, our sandwich vendors are still able to creatively partition any food products, and will be more than happy to divide your sandwich in half with a well-placed karate chop, as they are licensed to split your sandwich into different sections with their hands."

"Next up: No hoisting of children, elderly people, or pets on top of your shoulders so they can get a better view, and /or take better pictures. Vertical space is going to be a bit tight anyway, so tragedy can best be averted if everyone simply walks."


This is what was used to accuse me of impersonating corporations and public figures. The head of content couldn't figure out:
1. Whether or not Red Bull had actually seen it and filed a complaint, because he first mentions that Red Bull saw it and complained...and then says that they pulled it to prevent Red Bull from seeing it.
2. Whether or not he had actually read the article, because he accused me of directly quoting a specific Red Bull official, and I clearly didn't name anyone specific.
3. He directed me to utilize Sniff Petrol in order to learn how to properly write a satirical piece that's friendly to corporate interests. You know, because Porter's site is sooo friendly to corporate interests. At the time that this was going on, there were no less than 4 stories on Porter's site that were talking crap about various corporate interests.

This is Tim Rodie's initial message to me:

"Hi Larry, how's it going?14/05/2018

I'm the relatively new head of content & community here at DT - I've been meaning to introduce myself but figure now is as good a time as any!

Just to let you know we've removed your satire post about the London Motor Show and Red Bull Air Race. It drew a complaint from Red Bull, a brand we're working with commercially, and it also misrepresented quotes from DriveTribe and other brands.

I love satire as much as anyone - and we really appreciate how you engage with DriveTribe, but when writing satire it's always best not to misrepresent quotes from real people or brands. It's not good enough to just say 'it's satire', sadly. Have a look at how Sniff Petrol etc. deal with making brilliant satire without incurring commercial wrath!

Hope you understand, and feel free to DM me any concerns."

My initial response:

"Hello as well, and thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself. I'm Larry. That one guy.
It's a wonderful thing to wake up to, at 4:30 am in the morning, discovering that one's work has been deleted because of a complaint from a corporate sponsor, a corporate sponsor who I'm curious as to whether or not they actually read the article that was posted.
In addition, and please don't take this the wrong way, I'm okay with my work being deleted, because that was a woefully-performing piece anyway.

However, I'm curious if anyone else in DT management actually took the time to read the article before it was removed as well, simply because of how ridiculous the story was to begin with, a full-speed aircraft race that would be taking place indoors, inside the relatively tiny venue in which the London Motor Show would be taking place.14/05/2018

And concerning Sniff Petrol, I have Porter's wonderful site up in another tab.

sniffpetrol.com"

His next reply:
"Absolutely - I understand what you're saying, but no matter how ridiculous an idea (and I did enjoy your concept), you can't attribute quotes to real people/entities if they didn't say them.

Mine:

"Tim.
There are no real quotes."
"unnamed PR guy"


Tim:
"I think Red Bull will have seen the headline, saw that it was promoted to the front page of DriveTribe and presumed it was our official line. As as an official sponsor of the London Motor Show as well, it doesn't look great for us"

My final reply:

"Thank you, sir. This conversation has been amazingly enlightening.

Especially as I'm gazing at Sniff Petrol, who's offending at least three or four corporate entities as I type this on his main page, a page I was just instructed to use as a source of legalese inspiration.

" It drew a complaint from Red Bull"

Or

"I think Red Bull will have seen the headline, saw that it was promoted to the front page of DriveTribe and presumed it was our official line."14/05/2018
Which one is it?

He didn't respond.

He then wrote a public hitpiece against me later that evening which legally outlined how satire of any kind would no longer be able to be posted anywhere on Drivetribe. As a result, even if Richard Porter wanted to write anything SniffPetrol-related, Tim Rodie has effectively blocked even him from doing so.

The hilarious bit? I was then ordered by one of the community managers to continue writing. You know, since I'm being paid so well to do so.

Edited by Moose of Death on Monday 28th May 20:26

Edited by Moose of Death on Monday 28th May 20:37

[Beefmeister]

I find that satire generally works best when it's shorter. Just look at the articles by Sniff Petrol, Daily Mash etc

Also, bhing and moaning on a very public site, naming a well known journalist and copy/pasting your internal work correspondence is only going to end one way.

I'd say man up, st happens especially in journalism. And you really don't want to be burning bridges this early in your career.

Edited by Beefmeister on Thursday 14th June 19:00

[djdest]

I’d say don’t bother, it sounds like more bother than it’s worth.
Plus it will be as dead as MySpace soon, probably is already

[Moose of Death]

Beefmeister said:

I find that satire generally works best when it's shorter. Just look at the articles by Sniff Petrol, Daily Mash etc

Also, bhing and moaning on a very public site, naming a well known journalist and copy/pasting your internal work correspondence is only going to end one way.

I'd say man up, st happens especially in journalism. And you really don't want to be burning bridges this early in your career.

Edited by Beefmeister on Thursday 14th June 19:00

Nah, that's okay, they've burned a few thousand bridges since I posted this, in addition to burning down the company that builds the bridges in the first place.

My two handlers in question are known B.S. artists, and have shat on dozens of people (since I last posted in here) on their way to creating "Automotive Buzzfeed" (their site now actually looks like Buzzfeed), Drivetribe now being a website that's now some twelve million dollars in the hole.

I've since deleted my account, and deleted all of my work there, as I didn't want to be associated in any way with that biblical-level disaster in the making. Hell, I've even deleted Amazon Prime off of any viewing device in my home, as I don't even want to accidentally stumble across The Three Boobs on the Bland Tour, simply because they are the ones who rubber-stamped Drivetribe, and the disaster that it's become.

Concerning burning any of my own bridges, I've pretty much had it with any British company in question, as this is the 7th time I've been screwed by one. For whatever reason, the British enjoy playing games, but the problem is that they're so inept in the way that they do it, that it's glaringly obvious as to what they're doing to most everyone else, and they never seem to be able to take the hint.

I'm glad to have had an opening out of America and into the rest of the world, as I seem to have had a hell of a lot more success with my work outside of the states, but if this is the crap that I have to deal with, inept bumblers (the latest being Tim and Darren at Drivetribe) who are only in positions of power because they somehow conned other inept bumblers, you know, I can simply go focus on something else where I don't have to constantly watch my back...which is exactly what I'm doing now.

[Moose of Death]

djdest said:

I’d say don’t bother, it sounds like more bother than it’s worth.
Plus it will be as dead as MySpace soon, probably is already

It was already dying as of the time that I abandoned ship a couple of months ago. Nobody there gets any traffic unless it's forwarded to their FB page, and only the dumbest of material gets promoted there. They've got a few 17-year-old kids that they're working to death to write most of their material, and have managed to bury anyone else that doesn't write exactly as they want.

[Beefmeister]

Wow, I'd forgotten all about this. But reading back through your previous posts on this page, and your new ones you really don't come across as the most easy to work with.

When Tim Rodie messaged you, your responses (if they were as you transcribed) were very abrupt, some would say even rude.

Given you say 7 British companies have 'screwed you' have you considered that maybe the issue is your attitude? It's all very well and good coming onto forums and ranting but there comes a time when you really have to take responsibility for your actions.

[George Smiley]

Beefmeister said:

Wow, I'd forgotten all about this. But reading back through your previous posts on this page, and your new ones you really don't come across as the most easy to work with.

When Tim Rodie messaged you, your responses (if they were as you transcribed) were very abrupt, some would say even rude.

Given you say 7 British companies have 'screwed you' have you considered that maybe the issue is your attitude? It's all very well and good coming onto forums and ranting but there comes a time when you really have to take responsibility for your actions.

Used to see such immature responses to reasoned challenges on American sites before.

After reading the deleted content I cannot understand why he posted it back up, it was terrible.

[swisstoni]

Red Bull race to be held indoors.

That is a mildly funny April 1st type gag. It's not strong enough to sustain a whole 'piece'.

[Moose of Death]

George Smiley said:

Used to see such immature responses to reasoned challenges on American sites before.

After reading the deleted content I cannot understand why he posted it back up, it was terrible.

Terrible in comparison to...?

[Moose of Death]

Beefmeister said:

Wow, I'd forgotten all about this. But reading back through your previous posts on this page, and your new ones you really don't come across as the most easy to work with.

When Tim Rodie messaged you, your responses (if they were as you transcribed) were very abrupt, some would say even rude.

Given you say 7 British companies have 'screwed you' have you considered that maybe the issue is your attitude? It's all very well and good coming onto forums and ranting but there comes a time when you really have to take responsibility for your actions.

I am actually incredibly easy to work with. I've worked with raging jerks throughout my career...and still work with them...but I reeeeeally want to make these things work, so my default mode is 'super-nice'. Being a jerk myself simply isn't an option, my wife has worked with a lot of dying patients who were aholes to everyone around them, and I don't want to go out that way.

What I'm relaying to you right now is that the seven times I've worked with British companies, it's like I've stumbled each time into a nest of vipers that is in the midst of a gas leak somewhere in the building.

Drivetribe was no different. It was straight out of "A Confederacy of Dunces", in that they were simply that dishonest to everyone that worked with them, but were also so transparently stupid about it. That incident above is exactly what I'm talking about, it's like Clarkson, May, and Hammond hired the world's 3rd-most-inept team to run the website, with the eventual goal being, "instead of doing something amazing, let's just copy Buzzfeed, line for line, and word for word."

That's the theme of the seven companies I worked with: Abject, rampant, easy-to-spot dishonesty. Is there a gas leak in all of Great Britain?

The recent site overhaul was my reason for finally abandoning that dump, as they even screwed over a lot of their major contributors (even groups that were official partners), in their zest to become a celebrity lifestyle, Automotive Buzzfeed clone. In speaking with several former employees from there, the initial plan was to cobble together something that vaguely looked like a giant, thriving community, and hope that some idiot media company conglomerate would pay a couple of billion dollars for it, with the Three riding off into the sunset, pockets even more loaded than before.

....aaaaand then the Dot.com bubble blew up.

Now? Clarkson and company are stuck with the site, are $12 million in the hole, and are basing their hopes for success on barely-paid teenaged writers who can mimic copy-and-paste articles that you'd see on Buzzfeed, or anywhere else. Go onto DT, and then visit Buzzfeed, you'll see what I'm talking about.

That Tim Rodie email was merely the tip of the iceberg concerning my dealings with that disaster of a company, as Tim (and others) left gaping logic hole after gaping logic hole behind in their wake, to the point where even some of the (supposedly) common rabble were noticing problems.

And with the site redesign, every problem that I had politely pointed out...every prediction I made...it all happened. They buried the work of those that they deemed to be 'undesirable', and their chosen few teenaged writers (at the point I left, there were also a couple of under-18 kids slaving away as well) were promoted to the top of the heap, simply because they could stay up for days at a time and churn out repetitive material.

[jayemm89]

I did a piece a while back about how I felt DT had missed a trick, it was also used (and I was interviewed) by a large automotive online outlet about it later on.

I'd post the links but can't, I am sure someone else can manage it for me. I was genuinely upset at the chasm in difference between what should have been, and what was.

[Moose of Death]

jayemm89 said:

I did a piece a while back about how I felt DT had missed a trick, it was also used (and I was interviewed) by a large automotive online outlet about it later on.

I'd post the links but can't, I am sure someone else can manage it for me. I was genuinely upset at the chasm in difference between what should have been, and what was.

The initial opening of DT was supposed to be by invitation only, in that you applied, and were either selected or denied. And then for whatever reason, or at least nobody I know through the DT office had any explanation for, DT decided to allow any Tom, Dick, or Harry the ability to post/contribute in there, if you can somehow manage to log in, you can contribute. I seem to recall that there were over 30,000...inactive accounts, or at least that was what I was told, and many more that were clogging up the system.

The first CEO left, and a lot of good people also bailed, as apparently the atmosphere inside DT is incredibly toxic, which was a common theme with most of ex-employees I've spoken to about the place. So far as who's still there, and in charge, the two upper management twits that I had primary dealings with (at least for the last 5-6 months of my being in there, as I was allowed in a day or so after the initial opening), they'll repeatedly tell you that the bulk of what's being posted in DT is absolute crap, they're supposedly sick of seeing it, and really want high-quality content.

They then turn around and suggest publicly that repetitive, inane quizzes are the bestest thing ever (an old newspaper trick to get readers in from over 100 years ago), and that crappy Google-search pictures that idiots steal and then post as their own are the wave of the future.

In addition, kids who have likely never driven a car in their entire life are writing review stories about cars they've never seen in person, but can find information about in Wikipedia, if you were to scroll through their main page, almost all of these same reviews are written by kids, who in some cases don't even have a license to drive yet, or if they do, they don't even own a car.

Most of the people in the office aren't really 'car' people, either, in that this is simply the job they're doing right now, and are picking it up as they go along, or are still living in their parents' home, attempting to suggest that they're actually really well off financially, and have rich friends (a certain Mahmood Ansari, in charge of audience destruction, I mean, audience growth, lives at home with mom and dad, is a scrub with rich acquaintances, but talks crap about people who don't have nice cars...when he isn't trying to sexually harass females who aren't interested in him).

I've owned over 100 cars, currently have motorcycle #84 and a mildly-modified Lincoln Mark VIII LSC in the garage (shoulders are too wide for smaller cars, as is my seated height), I've owned a repair/modification shop for nine years, have worked on/built cars, trucks, bikes, etc, etc...sell parts and do service writing, in addition to being involved in all kinds of motorsports over the last few decades...and there is no place for me, or anyone like me at DT, never mind what anyone there attempts to tell you, it isn't a serious 'car' site, it's a celebrity lifestyle page that's posing as a serious car site.

They've even admitted that this is what they're becoming, even after calling me every name in the book for several months beforehand because I dared politely mention that this is where they were going with the changes they were making, and the types of people that they were driving away.

Where does this all lead? The site is supposed to be an extension of the universe of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond, but in the end, it's anything but, with their essence being trimmed away to the point where they're merely cardboard cutouts of famous people you'd see in a store, promoting someone's crappy light beer, and occasionally they offer up pre-recorded messages to whip the idiot fans into a frenzy. The people inside DT don't even understand the jokes and/or humor behind the Trio, as Darren (one of the two top-echelon dweebs that I named before), right before I bailed, on multiple occasions, had noted how Richard Porter's humor was absolute crap, how it was never going to go anywhere, and how it had no place on Top Gear, or the Grand Tour, DT, or anywhere else.

Considering that the humor is probably 49% of the reason that the Trio are successful to begin with...yeah, if you want to know what's missing, that's a pretty good idea.

It's become Automobile Buzzfeed, listicles, quizzes, and crappy copy-paste articles. There is no place for anything original there, simply because management doesn't understand or know what to do with it, much less how to create it. If Buzzfeed doesn't do it, Drivetribe doesn't do it.

And that's why they're at least $12,000,000 in the hole.

Another problem: It's the Trio themselves that are an issue, in that if it doesn't have anything to do with Clarkson, May, or Hammond, it is, at best, perhaps 5% as attention-grabbing versus anything done by the three in there. As a joke, I've written satire articles with the three being involved in some way or another, and just simply having one or all of their names in the story title is a guaranteed boost, as ridiculous as it sounds. I had a lot of fun with this.

It might also be entirely possible that it's the fans themselves who are the issue with DT, in that while some of them are quite possibly the most-awesome people I've ever ran across, the rest...you begin to wonder at times as to how in the hell these people manage to find the 'power on' button on either their cell phones or desktops. One of the few times I managed to get my work promoted to their FB page, one particular piece of mine was the most-popular story that week...and maybe only a few dozen people actually clicked on the freaking link to read the actual story, while just the story link itself on their FB page received something like 10K 'likes'. with the vast bulk of those simply being shares to other people...who also didn't read the story.

In short, DT won't survive simply because the site attempted to short-cut their way to prosperity by riding on the backs of three famous people who can't be on the site 24/7, and in the end, all it really is is a support site for the Grand Tour. Traffic goes up when the GT is on...and drops back off during the rest of the year.

Edited by Moose of Death on Thursday 13th December 09:07