Social Media and Negativity: A bad combination for dirt racing

[Returning to Dirt]

http://insidedirtracing.com/social-m...r-dirt-racing/

Does speaking out negatively on social media hurt dirt racing?

[MM90]

Does Yelp help/hurt restaurants? Of course it does. The good ones get more business and the bad ones don't. Just like any business. It's the way of the world now. Complaining about it isn't going to make it go away. Social Media will not get rid of Dirt Track racing!!! Will the bad apples close down? Maybe, maybe not. Will they be smart enough to see through the flamers and the people actually giving constructive critism? Social medial isn't going away and neither is Dirt Track racing.

[Jimmy Henry]

Great article.

To me, the main problem with social media, particularly message boards such as this is accountability.
Users come on here under an assumed user name and say what they want with little or no repercussions.

They don't understand (or care, perhaps) what they say does impact a track, event or series.

Why would anyone be attracted to a speedway, event or series when comments usually spiral into a cesspool of negativity with often juvenile comments?

I ALWAYS use my real name on message boards, if nothing else to be held accountable for what I say...

[golddirt]

Well here's a fact social media isn't going away like mm said. It's a change from past times. If one person is whining about something it may be bs but if a hundred are then you may want to take a look at what they are saying. Ignoring it all together will also hurt you. Personally that article right there would make me think twice about going to that track. Remember before social media? Yep all you heard was rumors and it took forever to find the truth. Truth comes quicker now with social media.

[Barbecueboy]

Great article.

To me, the main problem with social media, particularly message boards such as this is accountability.
Users come on here under an assumed user name and say what they want with little or no repercussions.

They don't understand (or care, perhaps) what they say does impact a track, event or series.

Why would anyone be attracted to a speedway, event or series when comments usually spiral into a cesspool of negativity with often juvenile comments?

I ALWAYS use my real name on message boards, if nothing else to be held accountable for what I say...

I'm kinda of tired of reading about the social media accountability for failing racetracks when rarely is the finger pointed squarely at the promoter/owners portion of responsibility.

Anybody with half a centilla of intellect can see what is BS and spiteful posts versus a constructive suggestion for improvement.........social media has become somewhat of an excuse for poor promotionalists( if that's even a word).
Instead of getting their own house in order, let's blame Billy Bob for constantly giving us a bad rap...........if what Billy Bob says is slanderous, libelous or untrue, that's what courts are for.
Most racers and fans are pretty intelligent about the sport the love, we can all tell who is Billy Bob and who is not.

If it were easy ,everybody would be doing it...........there is a reason great tracks with great programs and promoters do well year after year and sadly enough an equally compelling reason why the ones that struggle to survive have so so promoters and owners blaming the social media for their woes....

I'm as outspoken as anybody, but come on folks..............social media plays a part, but there are lots of moving parts at a racetrack operation.......owners and promoters of these tracks need to share and take ownership in the blame of any.

[3 wide]

If they would just run their race track the way their supposed to they wouldn't have this problem it's a two way street you might get somebody bragging on your race track the traffic goes both ways a lot of the race tracks i go too I went the first time because I heard good things about them.

[Jimmy Henry]

No question that promoters,series, etc. need to own up to issues.

[Clayton_Wetter]

As mentioned above social media will most likely balance out, with the numbers of good and bad comments, so I don't see why there should even be a complaint about it.

Just as bad comments are posted so are the good.

It's up to the race fans to make their own opinions from the information they read.

[HEAVY DUTY]

If you don't want bad things said on social media, don't give em bad things to talk about. Give the racers a well prepared racy track, that the fans don't get covered in dirt, dust, grit and rubber. Give them good concessions at a fair price. Give them clean restrooms. Give the racers fair officiating. Don't expect a racer to race on a rough racetrack that tears up more stuff than they can afford to fix. Don't expect them ( racers or fans) to come back every week if your track is one groove, and the show cant get done at a reasonable hour. Don't charge $35 dollars pit pass at a racetrack that isn't prepared as well as one just down the road a little farther charging $25. Racers put on the show, we shouldn't have to pay our own purse. Racers and fans alike want to have fun, that's what they are spending their money on. When the fun isn't worth the money, or extra work they will go elsewhere. They have money to spend if they want to. It is the promoters job to make theirs the racetrack we want to spend our money at. Gas is cheap now, we can go past the closest track, to get to the one we like the best, or just go somewhere else besides the track. I love racing. I make my living in racing. I go to a lot of racetracks. Some are really good. Some are really bad. I don't know why people would go anywhere else besides a good racetrack on Saturday nights. The good ones will continue to do well. The bad ones, will continue to blame social media, the economy, the dirt, the racers, the town, the county, the state, the county fair, the ball game, the weather, the Nascar on TV, the you name it. A racetrack is a business, a business selling a product. If your product is worth the money, they will buy it. Don't expect them to buy something week in and week out, that they aren't happy with. They will complain, and social media is the easiest place to do it nowadays.

[PennDirt]

I'm kinda of tired of reading about the social media accountability for failing racetracks when rarely is the finger pointed squarely at the promoter/owners portion of responsibility.

Precisely this.

Every racing blogger, racing site and forum has parroted this to death. There was a time it would elicit a reasonable response complete with 'do's and don'ts but now it's just a lazy way to clickbait readers with unoriginal, poignant content.

If you ad-based racing sites want me to click on your op-ed pieces, give me something fresh, thought-out and positive like: Velocity TV - Our Truth, Our Salvation and Our Future or How We Could Learn From Motocross.

Something, anything. hello? *taps the mic*

[Barbecueboy]

No question that promoters,series, etc. need to own up to issues.

I just think everybody over time figures out who the chirpers are and can tell when it's more of a personal vendetta than it is a constructive suggestion.

Good mgmt. and good idea always seems to have a way of making successful racing happen most of the time........social media be d@mned.

And good luck with what you are doing up there.

[Jimmy Henry]

Thanks, Barbecueboy---I appreciate it.

[dirtMAN007]

thanks, barbecueboy---i appreciate it.

hoping for a soild schedule soon ?

[NormP]

I'm all for holding the feet to the fire when it's deserved. The only problem is that the whiners don't have the balls to use their real names. It's real easy to talk tough or talk trash when you have a made up name behind which to hide.

[WisWildManFan]

#fals..............

[SuperEight]

http://insidedirtracing.com/social-m...r-dirt-racing/

Does speaking out negatively on social media hurt dirt racing?

I'm kinda tired of hearing this. If you put on a good show for a good price the word will spread. If you keep serving up dung for a show your gonna get ripped on social media. What it means is doing things half way wont cut it anymore because in the time it takes to hit send everyone will know and vice versa. No more days of luring people in with flashy adds and hype only to have a train race in a dust storm with restrooms growing the Ebola virus and a concession stand serving garbage with 2 inches of ash hanging off a cigarette... Do It Right or Don't Do It At All.

[oldfart50]

Social networking sites are dumb. Is this not what real social interaction is for? Why does EVERYONE need to know what you think? Are you the president or something? If you got something worth saying, do it in person or make a phone call. Also, why in the world would I want to know what you think unless you are a good friend or family member? Social media isn't bad for racing, it's bad for the entire world. It cracks me up that promoters blame social media, when their track was never that great to begin with. I see racetracks with obvious things that could make a WORLD of difference, and yet it never gets changed year after year. Some of these promoters think all they have to do is throw water on the track and tons of people will show up. If the track and racing is good, people will come. Also ump cars aren't getting cheaper. Seems like racers are racing a little less and being pickier about what tracks they attend. So the not so good tracks are gonna lose.

This is a social media site in which you just gave your opinion. Do you think you are the President or something?

[plunks7]

Would you like some French cries with that Wha, Wha burger Fred?

[SnakeX3]

Thanks for saving me the keystrokes, BBQBoy. I'm so sick of reading the endless discussion of this ridiculous subject that I'm not reading the article that was posted. All I'll add is the people whining about this stuff (like Kenny Wallace) have completely lost their credibility in my eyes.

[Nasty55]

My question is who in the Sam h3'll are they gonna blame next? The Fed Ex driver or the ups driver? Or maybe the Gynecologist or the rectal Dr maybe? They always want to blame social media for their own downfalls when if they would just listen to the driver's and the fans and fix some of the problems that exist to bring a better product then we wouldn't have all these social media threads popping up all the time..... Just my opinion.... Not that it means much...