So, we currently have a big fracture in the userbase (though some are crossposting on both) where most of us are either over at DT or over at The Hyphen.
LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR to start, I will go wherever we all decide to go and adapt and be happy doing so. That’s what humans do.
But, let me explain my thoughts in a really stupid analogy below, and please, take no offense. I’ve read Stef’s and other folks’ comments in other posts and you’ve all made me second guess everything I am about to write bigtime (I don’t want this community to die and fade out due to a lack of influx of new users), but, as cliched as this is going to sound, this is sort-of what my ‘heart’ is feeling like right now...
I like the Hyphen more, so far....it feels more like ‘home’, like the Oppo I am was used to here on Kinja. That being said, again, if most of us go to DT, I’ll head there too and will be happy to do so to stick with you guys, but, right now, O-L feels more like ‘home’.
I just finished haphazardly and awkwardly explaining these thoughts to Jminer and Tripper on the Discord.....
It comes down to ice cream. DriveTribe is ice cream.
(Remember, this is going to be a stupid analogy, and, again, I mean no offense but in my English Minor brain, this is the easiest way I could explain myself, and these are the rambling stupid thoughts of a late-night Nova Scotian.)
People tell me of the growth that Oppo has seen on DriveTrive, hundreds of thousands of views and something like 500+ new members to the Tribe! That’s great! 200 of those members are likely real-Oppo transfers, and then lots of new ones from our new content posts and the like. BUT....
I am making a sundae. Somebody has hundreds of toppings in front of me on tables. I am going to go through and say ‘OK, I like chocolate chips and I like peanuts and I like strawberry sauce and chocolate sauce and...’ and I am going to go through and put those toppings on the ice cream which I like. Together, they are delicious, but I am not going to pay attention to any one topping.
That’s what Tribes on DT feel like to me...not really that...special?, just ‘I look at the list of all the Tribes and click on ones for subjects I like or that sound cool..’
‘I like classic FIATS! Oh, there’s a few tribes for that *click click click*, I like Kei cars, oh, there are some for that *click click click*’
‘This cool post about a Miata got posted on the main page...I’ll follow that Tribe.’
Soon, I have a wonderful list of oodles of Tribes that pique my interest. That was my experience when I first set up my DT account over a year ago. But then there was no....like....BOND with any given tribe to me? My fear is that all these ‘numbers’ that are mentioned are just that...numbers. People, as I was, who are just ‘adding toppings to their sundae’...people adding Oppo DT to their list to consume the content, but who are not planning on truly BELONGING there. I get that, some Oppos WANT their content consumed and their views to go up, and I also enjoy that too, but it’s not the most important thing to me. What I’ve noticed is that, as I’ve been following the DT Oppo page as much as O-T, all the people I see posting to the Oppo DT are OG Oppo transfers or LALD folks, there may have been some I’ve missed, but I’ve seen no or very few new names/usernames from these new blood ‘numbers’ posting there. I get that this is early days from out sudden DT influx, but with these huge numbers, where are these new members in our ranks?
I worry all that growth is just numbers of people consuming the content...but that’s it, not wanting to join and take part in OUR community, not really seeinf it for what it is and only seeing it as ‘another article to read that’s interesting’, if that makes any sense....
I don’t want Oppo to be about numbers, I came here and stayed for the community...for the camaraderie and friendliness and the realness. We’re not all car posts and happiness and sunshine. I see YOU GUYS in your posts as much as your cars. “I broke my finger yesterday.” “My dog and I went for a bike ride” “I had a tough day at work. I DO feel the community on DT, in the sense I’m seeing posts from all my Oppo Kinja friends from here, but the growth people mention doesn’t feel ‘real’ to me...and that’s why O-T feels more like home. I see the same familiar faces posting the same content...which I guess I do on DT too, but it just doesn’t somehow quite seem the same.
I will say that it’s amazing that we’ve piqued the CEO of Drivetribe’s interest and have had a lot of interactions with their community staff...they do genuinely seem like a good group and a welcoming group....I could be happy there if we did have to switch and, in time, and I’d get used to things and I’d put up with the niggles there that I currently can’t stand in terms of interface and layout and the like and, who knows, I may grow to like it there as much as I am claiming to like Kinja Oppo and O-T.
But, I don’t know.....I’m honestly and truly torn, really I am. I would LOVE if we could have O-T as our ‘home’ and then get folks to re-post their more popular long-form stuff to DT, but I can’t see people doing that when they could just stay on DT.
Yes, I know all this is just about being on websites on the internet and I am likely overthinking all of this, but I love this community....it’s been one of the best parts of my day every day for the...something like 5 years I’ve been around
here. I just don’t want to lose anybody or lose the camaraderie and friendships we have here. I don’t want it just to be about the view counts and the numbers. I can understand some people want to post because they want to grow their content and gain followers and post views and make something of their work, but, for me, it was always just for the fun of it and to interact with you guys and gals. The numbers mean nothing to me.
But then I truly ‘get’ what Stef says when she mentions that DT is out best change of gaining new members because of the vastly bigger chance of people coming in through viewing the content....I just worry they won’t take the time to stop, smell the roses, stay with us, and get to know us there before hurrying their way off to the next shiny thing on DT in a different corner of the site back into the ether...
2020 sucks Oppo....sorry for the rambling nonsense above...it’s late and I have elementary kids to teach tomorrow, so I’m off to bed. By the way, I’m probably nowhere near as melancholy as I may sound despite all of the above, it was more of just a rambling stream of consciousness writeup of my trains of thought over the last bit,
Stupid G/O and doing this to all of us... :/
G’night folks and feel free to share your comments and discussions below...I’ll get back to you tomorrow!