Social media: A new avenue for motoring brands

SOCIAL media and the Internet have plenty to offer for the motoring enthusiasts, in fact for those that want information on hand it is pretty tough to beat.

While threatening to put people like myself out of a job, I feel that for Bruneian motorists and car fans having such access to information via Twitter and the Internet is liberating.

Almost as liberating as driving out and about town and to the beach in a cabriolet, or in your favourite ride. Of course for some, almost counts for nothing.

For that set of car fans there is probably not much I can offer you by way of appeasement, but if you stick around to read what I have to say you maybe surprised at what's on offer for you in cyberspace.

For argument's sake, you're in Brunei and would like to find information about a particular car. One way is to use Google, and a far more interesting manner is to use Twitter.

I know a lot of people who disregard Twitter as a flash in the pan microblogging and highly ineffectual tool, in particular for motoring purposes, but if you're somewhat of an anorak of sorts like me then you'll enjoy this.

Type in the car of choice in a Twitter search, and bam! You'll find other people talking about said car, some people might even be looking to sell one, while others may have come across the car sitting on the road in the snow and posted the photo online.

It's far better than going through a search engine and coming across people spewing and rechurning information that has been passed out by the public relations camp of a particular car manufacturer. However I must point out that they (car manufacturers) have also begun to use social media to get their message across, but trust me you'll get a lot more out of it than you would through Google.

Case in point, if today someone typed in Porsche and Brunei, they would find out that there was an individual interested in buying one to drive around in Brunei.

Well at least I assume that to be the case.

If you happen to follow a particular publication, or several, you'll also be on the fast track to finding out about the latest releases and developments, as well as debates revolving around the world of cars, bikes, and other forms of wheeled transport if there are any.

Why might you ask am I doing this? Wouldn't this put me in the irrelevant basket sooner rather than later?

Yes and know. By doing so, I get other people involved and able to participate in whatever topic that is being discussed on this column.

Whether it be road safety or whether car manufacturers are moving forward with efficiency in the appropriate manner.

I think at the end of the day its a win-win situation for all involved.

On a far less serious note, in the last few days there have been two Ferrari 458 Italias scooting along our public roads. I have to applaud those with the financial disposable income in purchasing what many have been saying is the best super car to have come out of Maranello in recent years. It also continues a streak that Bruneians have been able to get their hands on street exotics and I personally hope it is like that for a long time to come.

The white one that I saw driving past the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah highway was a sight to behold. That a a yellow M3 was in front of it and overshadowed immediately isnt a point lost on me. It just shows how Ferrari produces a car when on top of its game, the result is something to behold.

Also last week (thanks to Twitter) has thrown up some interesting photos of a Lamborghini Aventador and a McLaren MP4-12C (did I get it right this time!?). The latter arriving in our shores recently while the Lamborghini has been lurking around since the Chinese Lunar new year.

On the news front, Porsche has announced that its new baby SUV will be called the Macan. The first time I read it food came to mind, but apparently it is "Tiger" in Indonesian. Yeah, I don't know either, but I don't think Porsche Harimau works at all.

If you don't believe it, see for yourself. This time though try it out like how I said above.

There is something for everyone on Twitter. Even us car nuts.

The Brunei Times