ToddRLockwood
Active Member
This is an inevitable consequence of an open internet, where personal accountability is optional. I remember when, years ago, Bill Gates suggested that the Internet would be a better place if people were required to use their real identities online. Many serious blogging sites do indeed have this requirement, and a credit card account is used for identity verification.
Tesla's unusually high media profile is both good and bad for the TMC site. The company takes advantage of controversy and hyperbole but also pays a price for it. I have also spent countless hours defending and explaining Tesla's technology in the comment sections of dozens of news sites. I've never thought of myself as a fanboy. I've been a Model S owner for 2-1/2 years and have dealt with the various manufacturing issues that other early adopters have experienced. No car is perfect, but as Consumer Reports has said, the Model S has so many checks in the plus column its gasoline-powered competition has been left in the dust. Traditional metrics that define what makes a car great have had to be rewritten.
I've also volunteered at Tesla sales events in my region, offering prospective owners a real-world view of Tesla ownership. That's a very different experience than defending electric cars on the Internet where many already have their minds made up. I believe many people are anti-EV simply because they don't want to find themselves on the wrong side of the social/technology fence. They're invested in the idea that gasoline is the "right" technology, both now and in the future. And in reality EV's still can't offer the price/performance of gasoline cars, at least not yet.
All of this said, the OP of this thread has experienced a level of vitriol beyond anything I've experienced, in spite of posting under my real name in every forum. I don't blame him for pulling the plug. In his shoes, I wouldn't hesitate to get the authorities involved.
Tesla's unusually high media profile is both good and bad for the TMC site. The company takes advantage of controversy and hyperbole but also pays a price for it. I have also spent countless hours defending and explaining Tesla's technology in the comment sections of dozens of news sites. I've never thought of myself as a fanboy. I've been a Model S owner for 2-1/2 years and have dealt with the various manufacturing issues that other early adopters have experienced. No car is perfect, but as Consumer Reports has said, the Model S has so many checks in the plus column its gasoline-powered competition has been left in the dust. Traditional metrics that define what makes a car great have had to be rewritten.
I've also volunteered at Tesla sales events in my region, offering prospective owners a real-world view of Tesla ownership. That's a very different experience than defending electric cars on the Internet where many already have their minds made up. I believe many people are anti-EV simply because they don't want to find themselves on the wrong side of the social/technology fence. They're invested in the idea that gasoline is the "right" technology, both now and in the future. And in reality EV's still can't offer the price/performance of gasoline cars, at least not yet.
All of this said, the OP of this thread has experienced a level of vitriol beyond anything I've experienced, in spite of posting under my real name in every forum. I don't blame him for pulling the plug. In his shoes, I wouldn't hesitate to get the authorities involved.
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