Ben’s Car Blog

I got an email from Bill Discher today about his research project. He thought that I was a “mechanic/body work” car blogger. This is what I sent him in reply:

I think you may have miscategorised me. This is not your fault, as I try to defy categorisation. Also, I think your categorisation scheme is good, though I have a few suggestions, if that’s OK.

First, a bit of background to establish my credentials in giving you this adivce: I’m a research student myself, studying IT, sociology and speech recognition. As well as being a car-nerd, I’m a geek. I’m into tech of all sorts from the web to cars to just about anything else. Because I have a Human-Computer Interaction background I’m also interested in design and Design (caps matter!) even crossing into architecture and industrial design as well as more ephemeral stuff like interaction, appropriation and so on. I blog about that sort of stuff at New Now Know How . I have a car-specific blog because I wanted to separate out my hard-core car-nerd stuff from my more researchy stuff (though I see them as interrelated at times).

My Dad is a straight out business dude, an corporate accountant actually. From a young age I was reading the Australian equivalent of the Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times as well as mainstream car magazines. So I have an interest in the business side of cars, too.

I sort of see myself as crossing a bunch of boundaries.

I like old cars, like Harvey the 1500ss Maz-ota, just because they’re old. They’re sort of anti-technology at the same time as being quite high-tech. I mean, I understand more about the Document Object Model than I do about the basic working of a Weber (or even SU!) carb. I’ve often spoken with and debated people why old cars are interesting and it sort of comes down to character but a bunch of other things, too, that I can only really explain by dipping into some words and ideas from sociology (which I can do if anyone out there is interested).

That said, I have no idea at all what I’m doing with Harvey. My Dad, and a bunch of my friends, is/are the shade-tree mechanic(s) — I’m just the ignorant apprentice.

I like (old) Mazdas because on the whole they have that elusive thing, character. French cars, too. And British sports cars, and Italian… Well, you get the idea.

I like new cars because they’re new. I like them because they’re an expression of the Design Process and sometimes because they’re not and it’s fun to pick holes in things that had hundred million dollar budgets and a bunch of smart people working on them and they still turn out to be only 60-70% as good as they should be.

I like motorsports and the smell of burning rubber and walking the pits and peering into people’s engine-bays. I like rallying and dirt and everything that goes with that sport. I can’t for the life of me understand the enduring appeal of drag-racing as a spectator sport.

So, what does this have to do with your classification scheme? I think you need to open it up to being a faceted scheme, allowing people to cross the boundaries between the categories. Perhaps even a graduated scheme, with rankings on the categories for the degree to which each blogger sees themselves as belonging to each category. Or, perhaps you could stick that idea in a “future work” section.

Bill Discher posted a survey on his research website. Here are my answers.

1.) What is more important to you as a car-blogger LINKS or POSTS ? and why?

…waiting for clarification of the question… Aha.

Links are more important in terms of attracting traffic and google. My stats go up when someone links to my blog (which isn’t very often).

Posts are important in creating something that would make a reader come back. Content is still king when it comes to making someone read your stuff.

In terms of what I want to achieve as a blogger, links are more important and are something that I can’t control.

2.) Are you aware of any studies or other evidence that either links or posts have more powerful effects in getting the bloggers message out?

…waiting for clarification of the question…

No. (Also: Ha! I can spot a student asking for references a mile off!)

Well, yes, but only obliquely. Consider “google bombing”.

3.) Why do you blog? ( that can be a tough one, if you really like something I understand that it’s a question that has no easy answer)

• As a creative outlet
• Because I’m opinionated
• Because I think I’m right
• To get noticed (let’s be honest, right?)
• To practice writing — my dream job is something like Jeremy Clarkson’s. I’d only want half what he gets paid, too.

4.) What do you think (beyond your own personal satisfaction) is important about Car Blogs as a whole?

Connection with the car-blogging community and ultimately with manufacturers and other industry stakeholders.

5.) In reference to question 4, can you point out a study or some other evidence that agrees with this? [told’ya I’d ask you to back-it-up. ; ) ]

Witness Swade over at Trollhattan Saab’s “Tell GM About It” campaign.

6.) Roughly, how many friends/associates have you met OFF-LINE that you can talk about cars/automotive related subject at the depth that you want to?

Umm… 10? The on-line/off-line dichotmy is fuzzy for me. I have met people initially off-line who I have later encountered on-line, and, obviously, vice-versa. I have met more people off-line who I have previously met on-line through car discussion forums than through blogging.

Also, there are varying topics that I’m interested in. I have met more people both on- and off-line with whom I can discuss technical car stuff (carbs, fuel-injection, suspension) than with whom I can discuss car industry stuff. Car tech geeks are more common, in my experience, than car industry geeks.

7.) referring to Q 6., Roughly how many have you met ON-LINE ?

Too many to count. I help moderate a fairly large Mazda Rotary discussion site and I participate in several other sites with varying focii.

8.) Have you ever met another car enthusiast on-line then met them face-to-face?

Yes. Often.

9.) Do you have opportunities to meet other car enthusiasts (that you don’t already know) face-to-face in events such as car-rallies, car-specific conventions, auctions, swap-meets, parts flee-markets, etc. ?

Yes. Often.

Bill Discher is doing his PhD on Car Blogs and Car Blogging. If you’re a car blogger, head over to his site and help him out or drop him a line.

Swade from Trollhattan Saab is possibly the most passionate Saab dude out there.

He was about to buy a 1999 Viggen (that’s a crazy-powerful Saab in case you didn’t know) and got a Dept of Transport check done on it, to see if there were any “financial encumberances” on it. No money was owed but it turns out the car had been previously entered on the “written off vehicles” register! Not cool at all.

I wonder if it was a real Viggen or a numbers job? That is, did someone re-birth a normal 9-3 as a much rarer Viggen?