ExoticSpotter.com has been neglected for a long time. Yet despite this, an awesome community has grown. We're proud to have passionate spotters like yourself who share a deep love of exotic cars, and it's time that we give you guys the site that you deserve.
Over the next few months, you will be seeing many improvements. We plan to release a new design that will display photos in larger sizes with better usability. We're also working on several new features, including improved profile pages, better social features, comment alerts, discussion forums, improved point system, this blog, and much more.
We're also in the process of implementing a new moderation system which will seperate "true" spottings from those that don't qualify. Many of you have questions as to what constitutes a true spotting, so here is our official stance:
- Photo must be taken on public roads, highways, or parking spots, and
- Photographer must have no prior knowledge that the vehicle would be in that location.
- Photos from Car Shows (including parking lot of car shows)
- Photos from Car Club Meetings
- Photos from the start or end of a Car Rally (Gumball 3000)
- Photos at or near an Exotic Car Dealership
- Photos taken in private garage or shop
- Photos of friend's or neighbor's cars
- Photos from a photo shoot
- Photos taken in known locations where exotics are always parked (certain hotels, in front of certain stores, etc)
- Spotting an exotic car while it's taking part in a Rally, (if you didn't know about the Rally)
- Spotting an exotic car on the streets near a car show (not directly outside the show)
Here's a simple way to look at it: Exotic spotting is like wild bird spotting. If you take a photo of a bird at the zoo, that is not a real spotting. (that's like taking a photo at a car show).
A true exotic spotting is one where you have no idea if an exotic car will be there. Photos of exotic cars parked in front of certain hotels don't count as real spottings, because there's a reasonable expectation that they will be there.
This being said, it doesn't mean we won't feature photos that are not true spottings. Any photo of an exotic car on public roads will qualify to be on the site, but true spottings will receive higher points and awards.
In order to implement this new moderation system, we will need volunteers to go through the archives and mark photos accordingly. These volunteers will also moderate new photos, to make sure only the best ones are "featured". We will be providing admin tools to make tasks easier.
If you're interested in volunteering as a moderator, please email us. We'd also like to hear your ideas for new features or changes you'd like to see to the site. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far, we look forward to taking the site to the next level. Please leave your comments below.
Also, do we really need a like button anymore? I don't really see the point of even having a rating system anymore if there's only one choice.