Stance is Everything had a brilliant analysis of trends in online media vs print "Killing Automotive Media"

in response to a Killing Automotive Media http://www.stanceiseverything.com/2016/04/were-killing-automotive-media/

and I was inspired to leave my comment after reading what a couple dozen others had written.

Here's my take on the cool article Stance Is Everything wrote:

Damn glad to read your thoughts, and your analysis of the print killed by blog, killed by instagram is well done. A clear look and grasp of the big picture. Advertorial... Ha! Yeah, magazines did well for a long time on free products to improve the shop rod while writing articles on the newest carb, cam, trans etc etc. No one since has gotten that schwag thrown their way. Oh, some have scored rain x, floor mats, etc whatever, but the magazines really raked it in. Magazines sure have died and went away in the past decade though, and I am sure it's due to the birth of the websites, cell phone cams, etc. Though only a teenager (the internet is what, 19 years old?) it's toppling of the old regime is mighty. The new talent that has grown and created good new stuff like Bring A Trailer, Petrolicious, etc has far eclipsed the previous medium for specific services or great content. HAMB, Hooniverse, Jalopnik, Bangshift and others sure swooped in and took a lead. Also, blogs and websites bloomed and withered with lives in single digit years. Some real good sites have come and gone, Winding Road, Carros Antigos, and others... about 4 a year by my standards, and the odd thing is that they had cool content, but never a crazy fast way of getting syndication like this Tumblr - Instagram - Facebook thing. 10 thousand followers? Holy shit! I've been blogging for nearly 10 years, and was inspired by sites that I stumbled across while surfing the web, and seeing that ANYONE could be a self publishing machine, and put anything they wanted on their own site. So, without advertising it, I did to. People stumbled across it, and I made friends, acquaintances, and free press passes to SEMA! Haven't made a dime yet, because, well, I wasn't focused on that, didn't realize the BAT idea before they did, or advertising like Jalopnik, and still haven't gotten anyone soliciting me to advertise on JACG that I can respect. Edelbrock, K&N, Holley, Hurst, etc. Just schmucks in lousy car insurance companies, desperate for traffic. Blogs were a great way to link up, then they were passed by when Tumblr and Facebook made connections faster, easier, and more insanely numerous than anyone can cope with. 10 thousand followers? That is great, but tell me 200 names from that pile of readers? Nope, it can't be done. Blogging still gives me readership traffic, but I can tell you the 50 or a 100 people that comment frequently and that I reply to, on a daily or weekly basis. I'd rather stick with that than point to the app on the side of the site that shows 220k readers and not know a single one. Of course, if JACG were paying bills, or getting ad rates based on traffic, I'd likely change my mind for the sake of income. But, I don't have the luxury of selling out. There are far too many who somehow have nailed the sales and marketing, in addition to great content, and are out there getting paid for me to consider my site in their league. I know better than to think I can monetize JACG. It's no where near the content quality needed to make more money than minimum bill paying requirements that it would take to get to events and cover them like I do now because I've got a job unrelated to online aspirations. I hope to leverage my online accomplishments, traffic, and content to prove I've got the chops to get a job with a big corporation that will pay me handsomely, have medical benefits, and cover the expenses to get around to the kick ass events I want to cover first hand (Goodwood, can you hear me? I'm talking to YOU!) In the death of small magazines, and Zines (remember the 90s when the brave tried self publishing?) some really good stuff was created like Rodders Journal and they inspired Street Rodder Premium, and Motor Trend Classic... and the Hot Rod crew has been voraciously trying to stay alive somehow, while killing off Custom Classic Trucks, 5.0 Mustangs, Popular Hot Rodding etc etc (trust me, they killed off the weak runts around the office) and tried things like Overkill, Hot Rod Deluxe, and television was desperate to try and get ANYTHING to compete with Top Gear, then gave in and made a USA weak lousy version, just like any other British show that is cool getting an American version. Sorry, I digress. Wrapping this ridiculously long note up, the best are going to survive, and those that consider themselves good, but fall by the wayside, are going to either give up, or rethink and reinvent themselves and try again to make their goals happen. Some incredible talent was unknown before the internet, maybe they came of age at the right time, or maybe, digital cameras, same day online publishing, online video sites like You Tube and Vimeo, etc have made it easy for the talented to get a fast foothold instead of waiting for old bastards to die off and create an open position at Car and Driver, Motor Trend, or Road and Track. Lets face it, the old guard of magazine titles were where they got lazy and stopped being hungry. Some real talent was in there among a lot of mediocre lucky bastards on the gravy train, but there was no room for growth and addition of incredible new young talent like Stefan Marjorham, Bruce Holder, Larry Chen, and John Jackson. Some guys had to take a huge financial risk and go for broke with their own magazines, (Luke Ray with) Fuel, Sunday Slackers, (Coby Gerwertz with) Church and let me sing the praises of the hungry, the young lions, the new force pushing aside the cruddy old mags your dad read. Hef was a hungry young lion once, and made a effing incredible breakthrough in magazines with Playboy. He effing broke the lines, crossed the effing man, and walked past. Set up clubs, had a swag jet, and a Hollywood mansion for his private harem and incredible parties. (I bow in his general direction as I'm not worthy) and still was including the literary giants in his magazine, to read once you'd absorbed the eye candy. His kind of revolution will never come again. Everyone seems to want to focus on a narrow market now. Hef was showing you the artists, stereo gear, and the cars. And damn it, you bought that magazine. Thank you Hef! (Raise a glass to Hef the next time you're in a bar!) Because he paved the way, and proved you could make your own magazine, create what you wanted to see and sell the hell out of it. Ain't many people want to risk it all, fight the man in court for free speech, and sell keys to the Playboy Clubs, but, we all know we can print our own magazine, showcase the finest artists, sculptors, custom car makers, designers, and photographers, and write whatever we feel like it, and not have any damn editor, censor, or management tell us otherwise. We will live or die on the internet if we've created a wave that swells and breaks just so, where others want to surf (Petrolicious, you lovely bastards) or we'll wash out and quickly disappear. Some will make it, and have glory, just like the rebels in the 60s; Von Dutch, Barris, Roth, and others will maybe get a retrospective because they died of cancer or car crashes (Jae Bueno, Paul Walker) while we kept marching singing their praises. But like you pointed out marketers will try to imitate, or rip off, the successful, and new things will come up that we can't even imagine, and new young lions will have been inspired by those of us in the here and now, when we are old and gone (Von Dutch hats and clothing). While I'm still posting, I'll still be hitting events, taking photos, and posting new content and coverage. Maybe I'll be able to afford to get further from home and cover new events, or maybe I'll surf the web, and just show jaw dropping awesome stuff I've found, and share with my readers the coolest and most creative things other people are doing. I don't know what will be, except, I'll be enjoying it anyway I can, and sharing it on just a car guy.  Because whether I've taken the photos, or someone else has, I'm not creating anything, I'm just sharing what I've found cool, with wheels