I recently received this comment on an article in the Blog. It was my
article on the Mustang Customizer site.
QUOTE
Krys (27/8/2009)
While it was interesting to learn of this customization tool, this article is so wrong on so many levels I donât even know where to begin. First of all the Mustang most certainly didnât start the muscle car phenomenon. As a matter of fact a true muscle car enthusiast would slap you just for calling a Mustang a muscle car. Its not! It did, however start the â Pony Carâ phenomenon, which is itâs correct classification. Another thing, are you suggesting that in over 50 years, which is a more correct estimate of how long this model has been around, that there have only been 5 different Mustang models? Because that is a ludacris statement. As example, since I am not in fact a true mustang enthusiast and therefore dont know ever model, there is the new 2010 model, the previous model which came out around 2005, the terminator model of the early 2000âs, the more feminine appealing mid to late 90âs model and my favorite the fox body of the late 80âs early 90âs. No offense intended but you seriously should do at least a little fact checking before writing an article making so many incorrect claims.
And, here's my reply.
QUOTE
TheGunner (27/8/2009)
Hi Krys,
Thanks for the comment. Allow me to answer.
âWhile it was interesting to learn of this customization tool, this article is so wrong on so many levels I donât even know where to begin.â - thanks for pointing out.
âFirst of all the Mustang most certainly didnât start the muscle car phenomenon. As a matter of fact a true muscle car enthusiast would slap you just for calling a Mustang a muscle car. Its not! It did, however start the â Pony Carâ phenomenon, which is itâs correct classification.â - I donât think a slap is necessary, but I admit my error here. I had confused between the two classifications and made a blunder.
âAnother thing, are you suggesting that in over 50 years, which is a more correct estimate of how long this model has been around, that there have only been 5 different Mustang models?â - The most accurate answer is forty-five years, but I was taking poetic licenses with the statement. I did state the year of the first Mustangâs production to be in 1964. However, I didnât say there were five models of the Mustang, I stated there were five model generations of the Mustang. Thereâs a difference there. For each generation, there would have been several model revisions and facelifts. For example, the 2005 and 2010 Mustangs are both based on the same platform and mechanicals, and thus belong to the same generation.
âNo offense intendedâŚâ - none taken. Iâll openly admit that Iâm pretty new to the field, as such, I will happily accept whatever criticisms on my path to improvement. I appreciate you taking your time to point out my errors. I will not retract the article, as it is published, but I will leave your comments here together with mine so that readers will have a full view of the available facts.
â⌠but you seriously should do at least a little fact checking before writing an article making so many incorrect claims.â - point taken.
I have to admit that this comment was quite a slap in my face, as it serves to remind me on how much I still have to learn in my journey as a writer.
On reflection, I must admit that the errors I committed in the article were very basic & amateurish, and could have been avoided with deeper research.
It is quite tempting to use excuses like 'lacking experience', or 'even the best make mistakes', but deep inside I feel that basic factual errors cannot be deemed acceptable, new or not.
But, what's done is done. All I can do now is to work harder and ensure such a mistake would not be repeated again.
