- Yes, I am now that bearded git I kept referring to...

Goodbye DriveTribe, and thanks...

It was fun while it lasted!

I've been seeing a lot of these 'Goodbye' DriveTribe posts lately. Trust me, I feel your pain. Probably more than most! I think I've been here for longer than most of the actual DriveTribe staff!

It all started back during Steak-Gate, remember? Back when Clarkson punched Oisin Tymon for serving him cold cuts? I naively thought I had a shot of securing a spot alongside the pimply, annoying carrot-top Mr. Chris Evans. After making several awful clips, but deeming none of them good enough to send in - I decided to get good. I started a YouTube channel called 'Drive Talk' and proceeded to publish daily videos of me ranting and raving, mainly about cars. Some fool at DriveTribe saw these and deemed me 'DriveTribe material' for some reason, they then proceeded to invite me to join the platform well before it'd even been announced properly. So what has my time at DriveTribe amounted to? Well, this:-

My personal stats

My personal stats

My post stats...

My post stats...

I published my first post on 21st November 2016. So...

474 articles with 3.1M views and 10k bumps in 5 years and two months...

That more or less sums it up. In that time, the UK left the EU, I finished my Open University Degree, published two novels, a novella and a short story, witnessed the slow death of my cancer-riddled mum, gotten through three cars - the Jaguar X-Type, the Ford Focus ST3 and the Porsche 911 and ended up in the middle of a global pandemic. Along the way one of my kids was diagnosed with autism, I suspect the other one could be too if I pursued it. From the experience of looking after my kids for the last few years, I reckon I'm probably on the autism spectrum as well. I've nearly drunk myself to death and wasted hundreds of hours becoming a hardcore video gamer again. At times over the last five years, I've probably been the worst version of myself.

All good things come to an end!

They do! if there's one thing I've learned over the last few years, it's that everything is very transient. When I was a kid stuff seemed like it'd been there forever and would continue to be there forever. Now? When I revisit the old haunts of my youth, they are unrecognisable. I look back at old photos and videos of having young kids and that time is gone, forever. I'll have two teenagers soon, then in a few years time they'll have left. DriveTribe seemed like it would be here forever, but I must admit my enthusiasm over the years has waned a little. I'm not sure how many other 'original guys' are still here. I don't think many. I also think the environmental crisis and the pandemic haven't been helpful to allowing DriveTribe to succeed as it should have done. That's a bit unfair really. I think DriveTribe HAS succeeded. It did what it set out to do, which was to create a platform for social media and content creation that isn't marred by all the negative crap the other main platforms suffer from. It's just a shame external factors screwed up the business model. We're losing something precious here, but short of us all offering to pay a £5 monthly subscription to be on the platform, I'm not sure how we could save it.

WAs it worth it? Did you learn anything?

Over the course of the last five years, from DriveTribe, I earned nearly £2000 for winning the 2017 article of the year. I also managed to earn a couple of hundred quid a year for my articles. If It'd been my day job I'd have been on slave wages. However, on top of the cash, I've met some amazing people, made some great friends and learned a lot about how to write and engage people. At least I think I have? Richard Hammond once bumped one of my posts! I got into a few automotive discussions with Mr. James May. I'll take a lot from DriveTribe, but I don't know where I'll take it!

Regrets?

I wish I'd made it to the creator's launch party in London back when it was all kicking off. I couldn't make it at the time. I can't recall why, but it was impossible to be there. Little did I know, that was probably my one and only chance I'd ever have to meet Mr. May, Mr. Hammond and Mr. Clarkson. I also wish I'd made it down to the DriveTribe Office in London for a coffee. There was a year when I was in the capital about 5 times, but I never managed to arrange it. It would have been great to meet Mike Fernie, Tim Rodie, Lucy Brown and Rachael Hogg. I know we never met, but I think you guys are awesome and I wish we could have been friends. I wish I'd done more for the platform and contributed more! Some of the stuff I did was great, but there was a lot of drivel too. I should have made some more video content. I really enjoy making video content, but I'm a one man operation and I really have no clue what I'm doing. I could have used some help with that.

Any name drops of other DriveTribers to throw in?

Oh god, there's so many! Patricia Pedrosa, she was awesome and helped me out a lot. Robert Thornton, we've had some great chats. Marcus Milligan, thanks so much for promoting my stuff and being a mate. Tejas Kokcha - you're awesome. Natasha Cramer, Ben Welham, Kiran Ganesh, Alan Beatie, Valentina Zanola, Shivaum Punjabi, Keith Bagnall... Oh and John Coleman. John Coleman has been a proper, all around mate and always there to lend an ear or try and sort out a problem. He's a really decent chap and he deserves to get some sort of full-time employment out of his efforts on DriveTribe. He really is a great guy.

So where is your media/journalism career going now?

Well, I would LOVE to work for DriveTribe, writing and reviewing. I'd love to get in front of camera and talk 'cars'. I'd love to work with James, Richard and Jeremy, or with Mike, Tim and Lucy. However, I'm a realist. I'm a 44 year old has-been. Well, worse than that I'm a 44 year old never-was. I can't expect to work with three veteran broadcasters and motoring journalism legends. Neither can I expect a chance to work with a bunch of young, dynamic, energetic media professionals who've been rocking out awesome, engaging content consistently for months. I hate it. It hurts like a gut-punch, but after 474 articles and 3.1 million views I can safely say, on the whole nobody is impressed. I had my moments, but on the whole, I have not been successful. It's probably time to hang up my journalism hat for good.

You had your moments? What were the highlights?

Well, I suppose if I had to single out two articles which I think were my best work it would be the 2017 best article winner:-

The other I would single out was my piece on James May's Rolls Royce from the India special:-

So can I follow you on other platforms?

You can, if you're mad! Here are my socials, please follow as many as you're inclined to. I try and follow everyone back I'd love to keep in touch with all of you guys! :-

Twitter = twitter.com/author_mstanley

Instagram = www.instagram.com/stanleymartyn/

Facebook Author Page = www.facebook.com/Martyn-Stanley-538762722855078

Facebook Profile = www.facebook.com/martyn.stanley/

Facebook Deathsworn Arc Page = www.facebook.com/DeathswornArc

The Martyn Stanley Website = martynstanley.com/

YouTube = www.youtube.com/channel/UCiI3XG1mbgDrHcVim2Pav2w

Amazon.com = www.amazon.com/Martyn-Stanley/e/B009EOVJC6

Amazon.co.uk = www.amazon.co.uk/Martyn-Stanley/e/B009EOVJC6

True Achievements = www.trueachievements.com/gamer/smokemare

Xbox Profile = account.xbox.com/en-gb/Profile?xr=mebarnav&rtc=1

Tumblr = martynstanley.tumblr.com/

Goodreads = www.goodreads.com/author/show/6545672.Martyn_Stanley

So you're an author too? What are your books about?

Well, I have the Deathsworn Arc series, which is a weird, subversive atheist fantasy series about a world where the protagonists discover proof that the global religion was a lie and that there is in fact no god. Then there's the Lambton Worm duology, two stories from English Folklore given a modern twist. Then there's my latest release, 'Ofelia' a story about an 11 year old girl who is made into a vampire against her will in 1452 and then goes on to survive to present day without aging. It's a very subversive novel and it smashes most if not all the classic tropes of the YA vampire novel. If you want a Twilight clone, then I'll be honest this probably isn't the novel for you.

What about all your tribecoins!? What are you going to do with them?

I have no idea. I started hoarding them ages ago and never really found a use for them. I kind of hoped they'd end up being worth something one day. Alas, that doesn't seem to be the case. If you have a suggestion of what to do with my tribecoins, please leave it in the comments.

Conclusion

So that's it. I'm signing off my final article there. I'll be lurking in the comments. Captain always goes down with his ship and all that, and I DO feel a bit like a crewmember. However, there will be no more articles in Poverty Petrolheads, Binned it Like Hammond, Spot the Grand Trio or Irreverent Car Talk. I really hope you can understand how big a deal this is to me and how much it hurts. It isn't just a website being shut down, it's the hopes and dreams of a man who wanted to work in media for decades, but never had the opportunity - being shut down. It's like another death to me and I've seen enough of that over the last two years. I mentioned my mum dying but over the last two or three years I've had a number of aunts and uncles leave this mortal coil too. This will hurt, for a long time. However, I will always be extremely thankful to the staff at DriveTribe for singling me out and inviting me to the platform, then supporting me however they could over the years. john Coleman, for just being there. All the DT'ers I mentioned in the post and the guys I've forgotten because my brain is broken and also all the people who've read my articles and bumped them, but never commented and never messaged me. I really hope you enjoyed my stuff. If you DO want to read it, I might upload my archive to martynstanley.com, but only if there's the interest. So please let me know if you'd like my to do that in the comments. Otherwise, thank you so much, and farewell. :(

Martyn Stanley

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Comments (10)

  • Beautifully written. It’s such a shame that DriveTribe has to end but I suppose like with everything at the moment, it’s day was coming. I wish you and everyone good luck in the future!

      3 days ago
  • Well written and very truthful. It was good whilst it lasted though.

      3 days ago
  • that's a really well written goodbye note.

      3 days ago
  • Hey Martyn! I’ve always enjoyed reading your work on here and think it would be a shame if you stopped now. All the best with whatever you do in the future.

      3 days ago
    • Thanks Marcus, I'd love to carry on if I could, but I can't see any other platform having the right vibe for me somehow. Plus I almost wonder if I've kind of said everything I wanted to say? I dunno, I'm still reeling from this. :(

        3 days ago
    • There certainly isn’t anywhere quite like DT but there are plenty of places to write. Me and a lot of other drivetribers have been trying out opposite-lock.com it’s a lot different from here but everyone there is super friendly and...

      Read more
        3 days ago
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