You can’t please all the readers, all of the time. Or maybe you can — as long as you consider what they really want from you…
Yesterday I wrote an editorial/humor/analysis/commentary piece for TTAC about the meaning of Denali. As of this writing we’re up to 275 comments, which is about what Jalopnik gets for a picture of a ’94 Sonata parked on the street but which represents serious reader involvement at The House That Bertel Schmitt Didn’t Build. It was a pleasure to write and there are probably more “easter eggs” in the language than anybody is going to find without the assistance of a full research team. I spent almost two hours putting it together, which is more time than I normally give anything in my life except for lunch.
Reaction was predictably mixed, as is always the case when you write something beyond listing the specs from the press release and is doubly so when there is a political or social component to the article. I’d say that on the whole, it was well-received. A few people who profess to be fans of mine said that it disappointed them, for which I am truly sorry.
Then you have people like “RideHeight”. He’s one of maybe five TTAC users who absolutely despise me and on whom I can absolutely depend for a couple of negative comments in every one of my posts. As has become standard behavior over the past few years on the Internet for everybody who hates anything, he is incapable of simply disagreeing with me, or even simply stating that I’m wrong. I have to be inept, as well. Another account, olddavid, has been engaging in a kind of extended riff over the past two years in the comments where he implies that I’m being heavily medicated and that said medication requires adjustment.
I usually have two interior responses when I read this stuff. The first one is to social-engineer a real name out of their accounts and call them up. This is something that I used to do with relative frequency in the VWVortex days and I was never surprised at the lack of backbone shown by the people who answered the phone. It got tiresome enough that I stopped doing it — there are only so many times you can hear some Aspie stumble through an apology for his enormous eOnlineCawk. As a consequence, I haven’t done my patented This Is The Internet Calling You At Home thing a single time since early 2012.
My second response is more productive, or at least I’d like to think it is. I read the article with their eyes, trying to see where I went wrong or where I offended them. Honest criticism is priceless, and the more specific it is the more worthwhile it can be if you’re willing to consider it honestly yourself. It’s more than arrogant to assume your critics are idiots; it’s dangerous to your career prospects.
Commenters like “RideHeight” and the like, on the other hand, aren’t responding to any particular thing I’ve written. They’re responding to their idea of me, whatever it might be. Some sort of imaginary Jack Baruth who gets up at noon twice a week to write some lazy clickbait article and earns ten grand a week doing it. Some sort of fantastical me who takes a political position different from theirs because I have been brainwashed by their enemies or because I am an utter moron or perhaps because I am actively engaged in the service of Evil.
I don’t think I’m that person. At the very least, I am trying to not be that person. Earlier this week, on the Smoking Tire podcast, my brother pointed out that I am an utterly awful guitarist and musician. He’s correct, of course. I’m not the only auto-journo who plays the guitar — there’s whole band full of them in Detroit. I am, however, the only one who regularly puts material up for public consumption and criticism. I’m also only the only automotive journalist to my knowledge who has bothered to discuss any of his mis-steps, whether it be crashing a car or ruining a marriage. I don’t hide behind carefully-airbrushed photographs, or, better yet, the line drawings that used to be the only face Car and Driver put forward to the world. I don’t pretend to never be depressed or angry. I don’t try to be any cooler or more interesting than I am, I don’t pretend that I’ve earned things that were given to me, and I don’t pretend to be a pro racer or even a pro writer.
Not that the RideHeights of the world care. They read everything I write so they can write something critical. They are my closest, most careful readers, trying desperately to anger or undermine or simply annoy me. The people who say “GREAT WORK JACK!” might read half of what I write and comment on a tenth of it, but these guys, editing their post multiple times (yes, I can see that) to deliver their shank with the most force possible, are regulars.
So what do you call people who read everything you write, pore over it at length, then never fail to comment in an attempt to get my attention? I suppose you have to call then fans.
A. YOU SUCK ! .
I’m amazed anyone lets you touch a pencil much less a Word Processor .
B. You’re great , your way of imbuing words with ideas and scenes to make readers THINK is amazing .
C. Drugs ? recreational or the serious kind some @$$hats need to function ? .
-Nate
There’s a fine line between fan and stalker.
I was once whining to JB about one of the left wing readers who gets annoying and Jack said, “Yeah, but he reads every word you write.” I call them anti-fans.
I thought 05lgt summed up the multilayered piece well and I told Jack personally that I thought it was some of his best work. First time through I didn’t even get the wordplay in the headline riffing on “Denial is not just a river in Egypt”.
Side thought: I wonder how many readers under the age of 30 recognized the quote from Huckleberry Finn. What good are references to the canons, religious and secular, if people are not familiar with the sources?
Maybe it’s time for a deep dive into Jack’s deep dives.
I hated you for a long time. The first piece I recall reading of yours was the first part of your “Maximum Street Speed” editorials. I hated that piece. I thought it encouraged reckless and dangerous behavior. My opinion is, if you want to drive fast go to a track. There is no place in our society for driving 100 plus mph on public roads. My concern isn’t for your safety, but for the safety of the people you share the road with.
After reading that article, whenever I saw your name on a by-line I would skip past the associated item. No clicks from me!
Eventually, I accidentally read a couple of your articles, then a couple more and slowly you won me over. I’ve come to appreciate your wit, honesty and self-effacing style. Now I read nearly everything you write. I even re-subscribed to Road & Track because of you.
I don’t leave comments to articles, well except for this one. I’m only leaving this because I wanted you to know that “haters” can change, and even though these guys may “hate” you, the probably secretly love you, or at the very least they love to hate you. I think we are too quick in our society to criticize and too slow to praise. So here is my praise to you, keep up the good work.
P.S. I did not read the Denali article, I started to and then I realized that I just didn’t care enough to finish it. How’s that for honest appraisal?
The Maximum Street Speed stuff was done by request. I almost used it as an example in this article. I came to believe that it probably wasn’t a good idea to discuss that sort of thing with the public any more, which is why you’ll rarely read anything by me about speeding in public.
Responding a second time to note the irony of my driving 130+ mph for hours at a time on the freeway without so much as getting a hangnail and then nearly getting killed driving 45 in a 55.
There is likely a lesson somewhere in that.
Probably not the best thing to have taken out of them, but those maximum street speed articles did get me over my reluctance to pass on the right/use the right lane aggressively, since so many cell phone holding morons seem to do the same on the left.
Individual lives and experiences mean nothing to statistics
Everytime I see a “Critics Respond” post I expect it to be about my comment.
FWIW, I think sometimes you read too much into how people respond. Not everyone is as reflective as you tend to be.
Honestly, I probably disagree with the points you make in TTAC editorials and reviews more than half the time, but the only reason I bother to comment critically on your (or your brother’s) stuff is because you seem to welcome feedback. I certainly don’t get off on the chance to tell off Jack Baruth.
The only thing you’ve ever written that made me “mad” for more than 30 seconds was “Maximum Street Speed Explained” and I have become more of a road menace in the 6 years since so I likely wouldn’t have a problem if I read it today.
“,i.FWIW, I think sometimes you read too much into how people respond. Not everyone is as reflective as you tend to be.”
I’ve been guilty (multiple times) of unnecessarily-flaming comments at various places, but there’s a difference between someone always disagreeing with you (which can happen) and someone just chasing you around constantly yelling at you for how much you suck.
I respond to your posts because I genuinely appreciate 90% of what you write about, but am in conflict with the other 10%, and figure you’d enjoy hearing about objective viewpoints other than your own. A fan I most certainly am, but also a skeptic, as I believe everyone should be. 🙂
You’re correct about that.
I learned a long time ago never to have too much confidence in my own infallibility.
“I learned a long time ago never to have too much confidence in my own infallibility.”
I see what you did there. The other limit being overconfidence in your own fallibility. A man’s GOT to know his limitations, else he’ll die a pusillanimous wreck.
And that’s why you can never be a politician…
I agree with every word you’ve written ever except that tripe on Jack and Jill Food and Cars. (Which BTW I still go to every day and seems to now be defunct. If so let me know so I can remove it from my favorites)
My darling Jill has been tied up with some work drama. She works for an ice cream company that has been subject to *two* food recalls in a month. I’m just waiting for her to come back to me.
I also look forward to more Baruthian reviews of flyover country restaurants
Then it stays on the favorites. Thanks.
Blue Bell’s back on the shelves. Local grocery chain’s limiting purchases to two tubs per customer.
“I suppose you have to call then fans.”
*them
😀
eff ’em. Haters gonna hate.
I liked it.
As an Original Gangsta blogger — I started my site back in ’96, and haven’t missed a day of posting since the summer of ’00 — I rely on eminently quotable folks like Jack to provide inspiration and, well, quotes. (Ninety-three pieces so far, including the Denali article; the very first, on why Pontiac dealers sucked, dates back to January ’09.)
When you speak on behalf of the (shrinking) middle class, Jack, with tongue-in-cheek references to Barak and Birthers and genuine references to Brooks and BoBos … people who learned to ‘think’ from the TV news can’t parse that, and won’t like it.
Keep up the good work.
I’ve insulted a few milquetoast writers over the years just hoping they’d have the balls to actually try and call me out over it. Guess I was insulting the wrong people but, then again, you’ve never struck me as milquetoast.
Jack, you’re without question the most talented writer on TTAC, and you shine when using things automotive to expose, then eviscerate, modern American cultural, psychological, marketing/advertising, pathologies/trends/undercurrents.
When you stray into partisan politics, you must know that you’re going to get a mixed reception, no matter how accurate/factual or inaccurate/disingenuous your observations are, however.
This should not surprise you in the least. C’mon, man.
p.s. - Bark is probably upset with me because I left a trail of piss & vinegar in his “glory days” essay (meant to be constructive criticism, but admittedly pretty harsh).
Don’t flatter yourself.
Everything is relative.
At some point, they’ll just start their comments with a refusal to have sex with you. Keep working until you get there. Then you know you’ve really gotten the four-bedroom/two-and-a-half-bath ranch in their heads.
There are certain TTAC writers I can’t stand…and I don’t comment on their articles.
Researcher: The average radio listener listens for eighteen minutes. The average Howard Stern fan listens for - are you ready for this? - an hour and twenty minutes.
Pig Vomit: How can that be?
Researcher: Answer most commonly given? “I want to see what he’ll say next.”
Pig Vomit: Okay, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern?
Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.
Pig Vomit: But… if they hate him, why do they listen?
Researcher: Most common answer? “I want to see what he’ll say next.”
I don’t know if nemisis is the right word, but I’m jealous because I have always wanted one. Some one who has dedicated a significant portion of their life to your destruction and misery. It’s nice to know someone cares.
When I want attention I get it the old fashioned way: With dick pics.
You broke several important rules of the internet in one text. I think they let you off easy 😉
(never discuss politics or religion, never use sarcasm/irony, etc. )
Even if I don’t agree with you on all your opinions, I still think you’re one of the most talented writers out there. But to be honest, I’m not very good at agreeing with people on the internet, despite mostly being very calm about it.
I think actually accepting constructive criticism and accepting that people disagree with you separates you from most of the journalists out there. It’s really hard to criticize someone who is aware that they have flaws, and is willing to admit it.
Hello again, Jack.
I wrote several comments saying such things as “you have gone too far” or in that vein, but I am fairly confident that unless you had been up 72 hours without sleep, I was simply joking, as a parody on all those who were offended by your intelligence or your position (probably as much by the former as the latter).
I do not agree with everything you write, because like you, I have a mind of my own. But I am solidly in your corner because you dare to have opinions, and all of them are carefully thought out and well-presented.
It is not my norm to write blatant fan letters, but in light of how badly you got raked over by a few people, and since I pretended to be one of them, I just wanted to be sure you knew I was just “funning”, mocking those who so artlessly are offended by you and your writings.
I get a very small bit of what you get, and I try not to let it annoy me. Pch101 in particular, and now dolorean, whom I suspect is his sock puppet (a fact I wish I could confirm, hint, hint..) loves to write vile ad hominem attacks on anyone he disagrees with, me being one of them, and then when I or anyone else posts some objective fact, he denigrates them as never posting anything to support their position. Obviously a complete 180 on what is actually going on, but my only real problem is trying to decide if he realizes that that is his way of defending what he believes in, or if he is really so dense as to think he is putting up a plausible defense of all he holds dear. And I can’t put my finger on why I should even care, other than out of idle curiosity.
But it certainly does give me sympathy for the amount of slag heaped on you by the chorus of fools.
Although I doubt you ever would, please do not ever give up writing this sort of stuff…it is one of the few places where I can get a reasonably concentrated dose of brain food for my allegedly intelligent mind.
You have added enough of another point of light in my world that I would gladly back you up on any endeavor you felt you needed assistance with, with only a minimal explanation needed.
Just be assured that whenever I write the sarcastic tongue-in-cheek replies about how you have gone to far in offending the sensibilities of the Dim and Clueless, I am always just joking around, trying to yank their chain a little bit in return for their sorry lives of pointless chain-yanking.
As is said in the Italian culture “Cent’ Ann'”, may you live a hundred years. And every one of them bring you more happiness than the last.
”
I especially enjoy your articles about discovering the joys of fatherhood, and the joys of discovering a new person and best friend living with you. I have been on that journey for 21 years, after finally finding the love of my life at the end of a two decade plus run of hedonism, and he is the result of that. Even today, I learn more about him and about myself, as I help him start his own business, out of a desire to control his destiny rather than be controlled by the world he was born into. It took me twenty plus more years of my life before i finally decided to jump off the payroll and step out on my own, and I am constantly amazed at how much he as absorbed of what I have been hoping to share with him, without the need for long “father-son” serious talks…I’m sure you are already discovering the same with your son, who like mine, is both a chip off the old block, and his own man as well.
It is one of the few rich joys this life affords over and over. Enjoy it to the fullest, as it seems you are.
And be assured that as long as I am alive, the whole world will never have turned against you, no matter what you write. If the whole world gave as much thought to its words and actions as you do, the world would be a much better place.
Adios for now, mi bien amigo.
Obviously I now enjoy your writing, I check in and read the articles when posted, I’ll skim them even if the subject is of no interest to me.
You’re a polarizing writer, not just because of your subject matter but also because of the voice with which you write. When I first came across TTAC during the carpocalypse I paid no attention to the bylines, devoured the current content, and went back through years of previous posts. When I didn’t like something I moved on.
Eventually I noticed certain articles were like nails on a chalkboard to me, yours. Especially anything involving a kentucky hairdresser IIRC. So I skipped them, in a fit of anonymous internet dickery I think I may have made an ad hominem comment post centering around the doucheyness of anyone living in the north of 270, west of 71.
I was having trouble separating Jack Baruth your internet creation, and Jack Baruth the author.
The comment I posted was out of frustration, because you often posted on topics I had great interest in and you had thought provoking views on them. I sometimes agreed with you. I kept reading, forwards and back on the timeline. As you shared more about yourself, new writings or me discovering old articles, I was able to see something of how your POV was created.
With that I was more able to separate the two Jacks in my mind. That allowed me to read your posts in a new way and enjoy almost all of them. God only knows what the third Jack is like, the actual person, but this is the internet so that isn’t important.
As someone who once found your articles grating I can sympathize with some of your detractors, but I hope their either continue to read your material and change their mind, or at least move on with their life.
Oh, sorry about anonymously calling you a douchebag.
As far as the haters go;
You are likely not the only writer they berate. Folks like that will search out other blogs/websites so they can rant about the posts.
When I had a blog, I always chuckled that those “fans” were letting me live, rent free, in their head’s.
You can social engineer my identity and call me anytime (with your computer chops, child’s play). I think I’d very much enjoy the conversation. Bark, too. Cars, music, guitars, firearms, theology, cycling, politics.
BTW, the Denali piece was pitch perfect. A stick thrust into the hornets nest, that one. Well played.
Many people, a good number of whom inhabit TTAC, aren’t really capable of writing much other than criticism. They don’t have any other real value to add. Like to food critic who poo-poos nearly everything, they think it gives their opinion the weight of expertise when they’re actually just cynical assholes.