- Admin
- #1
The Ever-Changing World of Internet Business and its Effects on Automotive Online Communities
by Rob Loszewski
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
©2007 Rob Loszewski, Corvette Action Center
No use without permission
[SIZE=+3]A[/SIZE]s many folks are aware, the Corvette Forum and several other online automotive communities were recently purchased by a company called "Internet Brands." Internet Brands operates many e-commerce and online community sites and also supplies internet software services.
Within one week of publicly announcing the purchase of CF and the other sites, they filed a registration statement for a proposed initial public offering. Not surprising after watching them gobble up approximately 5-6 companies specializing in online communities and related software.
Many of the members of CF expressed concerns about the future of the site, supporting memberships, post capability, moderation, etc. Not surprisingly, many of those concerns were presented to me by our members regarding the future of the Corvette Action Center, where it's been, where it's going and what my plans are for it.
Recently, Internet Brands decided to run streaming video ads that appear in the first post, on the first page of every thread in the forums. Many CF members have expressed a public outcry against this and jumped ship to Digital Corvettes and a couple other sites. Several members here have forwarded some interesting comments and beliefs posted by CF members in a few threads that have been locked at CF. I thought I'd take this opportunity to address any and all concerns by our members and others.
The most common question I've been asked recently is, "have you received any offers to sell the Corvette Action Center?" I have in fact received several offers over the last couple of years, but I have repeatedly turned them all down.
Censorship and Moderation
Recently, I've been informed that the forums here are viewed as being too heavily moderated and censored. The censorship part makes me laugh because after reviewing some of the posts made by these people on other sites, I can totally understand their discontent about being censored. A lot of the BS I read from them would not fly here and it's really no sweat off my...
CF, DC and all the other online automotive communities, including this one, have their own unique characteristics and online dynamics. Troy Roberts and his Administration ran Corvette Forum according to their own set of rules and guidelines. Patrick Gramm and his Administration run Digital Corvettes according to their own set of rules and guidelines. Some sites have more rules and guidelines than others, and some sites let more crap fly than others. There really is no right or wrong way to run an online automotive community.
From day one, the Administration here has operated these forums more strictly than CF and DC. I established a set of operating guidelines as best I could in order to encourage across the board fairness between members as much as possible. At times, they've been helpful and at times they've been a hindrance. Regardless of whether it's an online or offline community we're talking about; rules, laws and guidelines are never 100% fair across the board, but as site owners, administrators and moderators, we always strive to be as fair as possible.
When the Corvette Action Center first started out, we ran these forums pretty strict. Over time, I've loosened a lot of that and let more stuff fly than before. I don't let as much stuff fly as CF or DC allows, but that's how I choose to run these forums. It's been successful and the feedback I've received about how these forums operate has been encouraging. I don't intend on changing anything.
Regarding the accusation of censorship here, if you post something here that falls outside the guidelines we've established, then yes, the Administration here will edit or delete your post if necessary. After observing how Corvette Forum, Digital Corvettes and all the other online Corvette communities operate out there, they too will edit and delete member posts if the content of those posts fall outside the guidelines that their site owners established. Yes, our guidelines are more strict, but unless a member(s) presents valid reasons to change one or more of those guidelines I see no reason to change them.
If you do not agree with how any of the Administrators and Moderators act here, I have always encouraged our members to contact me privately and let me know their thoughts. The Administrators and Moderators help me run the site, but they too are human and make mistakes. They are not perfect and if you feel you're being singled out for something or there is a bigger issue looming on the horizon, then you need to bring it to my attention. I'm not always in the forums 24/7 and I don't always know every little problem or detail being discussed or argued. Those of you that have been long time members here, know damn well that I have no problem removing or demoting someone from the Administration. I've done it before, and I'll do it again if necessary.
While I'm also on the topic of moderation and censorship, I've heard another interesting rumor based upon the looney delusions of a previous member. I am the only one that has direct access to the databases here on the Corvette Action Center, and NO, I do not look at member usernames and passwords, log in as them, and post under their accounts. All member passwords are MD5 encrypted in the database.
MD5, or Message Digest Algorithm 5, is a cryptographic hash function that outputs a message digest (or fingerprint) of the input. MD5 is an 128-bit encryption. Compared to other cryptographic encryptions, MD5 is very fast to compute under a 32-bit computer—that's why it is so widely used. MD5 is used on virtually all forums and interactive online communities that involves authentication. If you ever used Invision Power Board, OpenBB, or vBulletin (the software that runs these forums) — their user passwords are all encrypted in MD5. MD5 is also used in verifying data integrity—meaning to make sure that data has not been changed. So your password may be "moron", but in the database that password looks like "3l5k6j3h56lkj3h56lj". If you try entering "3l5k6j3h56lkj3h56lj" with its respective username, you will not be able to log into the forums.
That's why, if you contact me and tell me that you forgot your password and need to know what it is, I will either ask you to tell me what you want it to be and I'll manually reset it for you, or I'll have the system send out a password reminder to you which is nothing more than a means for you to change your password rather than find out what it originally was. Unless you tell me what your password is, it is impossible for me or anyone else to log into your account and post as you.
Forum Activity and Popularity
As for the lower degree of activity seen here as compared to CF and DC, personally, it really doesn't phase me. I've always run these forums by the motto of "Quality not Quantity," and I'd rather see a few posts with quality responses rather than a million posts with dumb-ass remarks and smilies all over the place. Other Corvette sites don't have a problem with that, and that's totally up to them how they want to run their forums.
The other interesting fact is that the Corvette Action Center was built using a much different model than many of the other online Corvette community sites were. I didn't want the CAC to be just another clone of something that already works well and is successful.
The other sites consist mainly of forums and some galleries. The forums here are just one small part of a very large web site. The History section, Knowledgebase, Portal, Model Center and all of the technical information contained within makes up the main part of the Corvette Action Center. The forums here are not the largest, but the Corvette Action Center *is* the largest Corvette web site out there.
Contrary to popular belief, running a web site, depending on its size and traffic, can take an enormous amount of time, effort and money. Just because it costs little to nothing to access the web from home or work, doesn't mean that there are no costs associated with running a web site.
A web site is nothing more than a bunch of static files and databases containing bits and bytes of data on a server - not unlike your personal computer at home or work. Servers require electricity, software and software upgrades (which require the purchase of licenses), maintenance, etc. Unless you run your web site out of your own home, the server resides at a hosting company - a company that specializes in running servers and connecting users to the web. Servers and hosting companies are, in my opinion, the backbone of the world wide web. It's web sites and their content provided that make up the filler. All of this requires money. Several site owners choose to fund their sites in various ways. Some make it their full-time job and heavily market their sites to companies and potential advertisers in order to generate revenue. Some site owners build their web site and when the opportunity presents itself, sells it off for a profit. Some run their web sites on a shoestring budget and really don't care about how much revenue it generates. There really is no right or wrong here. It's all in how you choose to run your web site and what your own personal goals are for it.
Some site owners prefer to guerilla-market their web sites while others prefer to use some pretty low, underhanded tactics to market their sites - this coming from a couple vendors who have approached me recently with some interesting comments they received. A rather sad way to conduct business in order to pad your own pockets, but I suppose...business is business and everything else is just fluff on a cake so I'm told...
Where We've Been and Where We're Going
In answer to many of the questions I've received, yes, running the Corvette Action Center is a full-time job, but it is not what pays my mortgage or all of my other bills. I have a full-time day job and the Corvette Action Center takes up most of my spare time outside of that job. Could I quit my day job and devote 100% of my time into the Corvette Action Center? Absolutely, but for various reasons, I've chosen not to. Maybe someday I will, but for the for seeable future, i'm continuing on with my career.
Will we integrate streaming video ads here like Internet Brands' has done with the Corvette Forum? No. I see no need to do so. While I'm not saying that Internet Brands' decision to run streaming video ads was a wise one, I don't really see much of a big deal with them. Obviously, many CF members feel otherwise.
My goal for the Corvette Action Center has always been to simply be able to pay its own operational costs and be a source of help and information to Corvette owners and enthusiasts. If it produces more than that, great.
The Corvette Action Center started out as a small five page web site for a class project. The entire five pages literally fit on a floppy disk, used frames, and was just plain butt-ugly. That disk was handed in as my class final. The class instructor loved it and I decided to run with it and see where I could go with it.
Is the Corvette Action Center for sale? Regardless of a couple rumors I've heard floating around the last six months, the answer is "no." I suppose everyone has their price, but the Corvette Action Center, like a lot of other things I've worked for, has taken MAJOR blood, sweat and tears to build and operate over the years. It is a huge part of me as I am a part of it.
When I hear all the positive feedback I receive from site visitors, members and General Motors Engineers that I run into at major Corvette events every year, all the hard work and effort has been worth it.
What's coming down the pipeline for the CAC? I am in the process of working on a major addition to the site. I also have a TON and I do mean a TON of new technical info to add to various portions of the site. I'm trying to work on it as much as I can. I do have a couple other projects in a planning and development stage right now. These won't come to fruition until the spring or summer of next year, so stay tuned!
As always, if you have questions or concerns about the forums, the Administration or any other part of the site, I encourage you to contact me either here on the forums or privately.
by Rob Loszewski
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
©2007 Rob Loszewski, Corvette Action Center
No use without permission
Within one week of publicly announcing the purchase of CF and the other sites, they filed a registration statement for a proposed initial public offering. Not surprising after watching them gobble up approximately 5-6 companies specializing in online communities and related software.
Many of the members of CF expressed concerns about the future of the site, supporting memberships, post capability, moderation, etc. Not surprisingly, many of those concerns were presented to me by our members regarding the future of the Corvette Action Center, where it's been, where it's going and what my plans are for it.
Recently, Internet Brands decided to run streaming video ads that appear in the first post, on the first page of every thread in the forums. Many CF members have expressed a public outcry against this and jumped ship to Digital Corvettes and a couple other sites. Several members here have forwarded some interesting comments and beliefs posted by CF members in a few threads that have been locked at CF. I thought I'd take this opportunity to address any and all concerns by our members and others.
The most common question I've been asked recently is, "have you received any offers to sell the Corvette Action Center?" I have in fact received several offers over the last couple of years, but I have repeatedly turned them all down.
Censorship and Moderation
Recently, I've been informed that the forums here are viewed as being too heavily moderated and censored. The censorship part makes me laugh because after reviewing some of the posts made by these people on other sites, I can totally understand their discontent about being censored. A lot of the BS I read from them would not fly here and it's really no sweat off my...
CF, DC and all the other online automotive communities, including this one, have their own unique characteristics and online dynamics. Troy Roberts and his Administration ran Corvette Forum according to their own set of rules and guidelines. Patrick Gramm and his Administration run Digital Corvettes according to their own set of rules and guidelines. Some sites have more rules and guidelines than others, and some sites let more crap fly than others. There really is no right or wrong way to run an online automotive community.
From day one, the Administration here has operated these forums more strictly than CF and DC. I established a set of operating guidelines as best I could in order to encourage across the board fairness between members as much as possible. At times, they've been helpful and at times they've been a hindrance. Regardless of whether it's an online or offline community we're talking about; rules, laws and guidelines are never 100% fair across the board, but as site owners, administrators and moderators, we always strive to be as fair as possible.
When the Corvette Action Center first started out, we ran these forums pretty strict. Over time, I've loosened a lot of that and let more stuff fly than before. I don't let as much stuff fly as CF or DC allows, but that's how I choose to run these forums. It's been successful and the feedback I've received about how these forums operate has been encouraging. I don't intend on changing anything.
Regarding the accusation of censorship here, if you post something here that falls outside the guidelines we've established, then yes, the Administration here will edit or delete your post if necessary. After observing how Corvette Forum, Digital Corvettes and all the other online Corvette communities operate out there, they too will edit and delete member posts if the content of those posts fall outside the guidelines that their site owners established. Yes, our guidelines are more strict, but unless a member(s) presents valid reasons to change one or more of those guidelines I see no reason to change them.
If you do not agree with how any of the Administrators and Moderators act here, I have always encouraged our members to contact me privately and let me know their thoughts. The Administrators and Moderators help me run the site, but they too are human and make mistakes. They are not perfect and if you feel you're being singled out for something or there is a bigger issue looming on the horizon, then you need to bring it to my attention. I'm not always in the forums 24/7 and I don't always know every little problem or detail being discussed or argued. Those of you that have been long time members here, know damn well that I have no problem removing or demoting someone from the Administration. I've done it before, and I'll do it again if necessary.
While I'm also on the topic of moderation and censorship, I've heard another interesting rumor based upon the looney delusions of a previous member. I am the only one that has direct access to the databases here on the Corvette Action Center, and NO, I do not look at member usernames and passwords, log in as them, and post under their accounts. All member passwords are MD5 encrypted in the database.
MD5, or Message Digest Algorithm 5, is a cryptographic hash function that outputs a message digest (or fingerprint) of the input. MD5 is an 128-bit encryption. Compared to other cryptographic encryptions, MD5 is very fast to compute under a 32-bit computer—that's why it is so widely used. MD5 is used on virtually all forums and interactive online communities that involves authentication. If you ever used Invision Power Board, OpenBB, or vBulletin (the software that runs these forums) — their user passwords are all encrypted in MD5. MD5 is also used in verifying data integrity—meaning to make sure that data has not been changed. So your password may be "moron", but in the database that password looks like "3l5k6j3h56lkj3h56lj". If you try entering "3l5k6j3h56lkj3h56lj" with its respective username, you will not be able to log into the forums.
That's why, if you contact me and tell me that you forgot your password and need to know what it is, I will either ask you to tell me what you want it to be and I'll manually reset it for you, or I'll have the system send out a password reminder to you which is nothing more than a means for you to change your password rather than find out what it originally was. Unless you tell me what your password is, it is impossible for me or anyone else to log into your account and post as you.
Forum Activity and Popularity
As for the lower degree of activity seen here as compared to CF and DC, personally, it really doesn't phase me. I've always run these forums by the motto of "Quality not Quantity," and I'd rather see a few posts with quality responses rather than a million posts with dumb-ass remarks and smilies all over the place. Other Corvette sites don't have a problem with that, and that's totally up to them how they want to run their forums.
The other interesting fact is that the Corvette Action Center was built using a much different model than many of the other online Corvette community sites were. I didn't want the CAC to be just another clone of something that already works well and is successful.
The other sites consist mainly of forums and some galleries. The forums here are just one small part of a very large web site. The History section, Knowledgebase, Portal, Model Center and all of the technical information contained within makes up the main part of the Corvette Action Center. The forums here are not the largest, but the Corvette Action Center *is* the largest Corvette web site out there.
Contrary to popular belief, running a web site, depending on its size and traffic, can take an enormous amount of time, effort and money. Just because it costs little to nothing to access the web from home or work, doesn't mean that there are no costs associated with running a web site.
A web site is nothing more than a bunch of static files and databases containing bits and bytes of data on a server - not unlike your personal computer at home or work. Servers require electricity, software and software upgrades (which require the purchase of licenses), maintenance, etc. Unless you run your web site out of your own home, the server resides at a hosting company - a company that specializes in running servers and connecting users to the web. Servers and hosting companies are, in my opinion, the backbone of the world wide web. It's web sites and their content provided that make up the filler. All of this requires money. Several site owners choose to fund their sites in various ways. Some make it their full-time job and heavily market their sites to companies and potential advertisers in order to generate revenue. Some site owners build their web site and when the opportunity presents itself, sells it off for a profit. Some run their web sites on a shoestring budget and really don't care about how much revenue it generates. There really is no right or wrong here. It's all in how you choose to run your web site and what your own personal goals are for it.
Some site owners prefer to guerilla-market their web sites while others prefer to use some pretty low, underhanded tactics to market their sites - this coming from a couple vendors who have approached me recently with some interesting comments they received. A rather sad way to conduct business in order to pad your own pockets, but I suppose...business is business and everything else is just fluff on a cake so I'm told...
Where We've Been and Where We're Going
In answer to many of the questions I've received, yes, running the Corvette Action Center is a full-time job, but it is not what pays my mortgage or all of my other bills. I have a full-time day job and the Corvette Action Center takes up most of my spare time outside of that job. Could I quit my day job and devote 100% of my time into the Corvette Action Center? Absolutely, but for various reasons, I've chosen not to. Maybe someday I will, but for the for seeable future, i'm continuing on with my career.
Will we integrate streaming video ads here like Internet Brands' has done with the Corvette Forum? No. I see no need to do so. While I'm not saying that Internet Brands' decision to run streaming video ads was a wise one, I don't really see much of a big deal with them. Obviously, many CF members feel otherwise.
My goal for the Corvette Action Center has always been to simply be able to pay its own operational costs and be a source of help and information to Corvette owners and enthusiasts. If it produces more than that, great.
The Corvette Action Center started out as a small five page web site for a class project. The entire five pages literally fit on a floppy disk, used frames, and was just plain butt-ugly. That disk was handed in as my class final. The class instructor loved it and I decided to run with it and see where I could go with it.
Is the Corvette Action Center for sale? Regardless of a couple rumors I've heard floating around the last six months, the answer is "no." I suppose everyone has their price, but the Corvette Action Center, like a lot of other things I've worked for, has taken MAJOR blood, sweat and tears to build and operate over the years. It is a huge part of me as I am a part of it.
When I hear all the positive feedback I receive from site visitors, members and General Motors Engineers that I run into at major Corvette events every year, all the hard work and effort has been worth it.
What's coming down the pipeline for the CAC? I am in the process of working on a major addition to the site. I also have a TON and I do mean a TON of new technical info to add to various portions of the site. I'm trying to work on it as much as I can. I do have a couple other projects in a planning and development stage right now. These won't come to fruition until the spring or summer of next year, so stay tuned!
As always, if you have questions or concerns about the forums, the Administration or any other part of the site, I encourage you to contact me either here on the forums or privately.
Most of the people go out of there way to make all members old or new feel at home which it is for a lot of us just my 2 cents Steve 
otfl ...I mean...I mean...:ugh
