Social Media is a funny thing. We all agree it’s not perfect, that it’s a time-suck and it causes a lot of stress for some of us

Yet many of us — specifically those reading this — can’t get enough of it.

Why? Because the various platforms give us a soapbox to share our opinions about everything, and in some cases it can be validating to have one or several people agree with you. It builds esteem. But all of this can also humble you if you’re proven wrong.

You probably knew all of that; you’re not necessarily here for my opinions of society, media and the influences they have in each other.

But what I do want to express is that social media within our hobby has had a major affect on how we view each other, our collecting habits and our collections. Sometimes it reinforces our habits, and in some cases it also can stir the idea that one way of participation in this hobby is the right way; and that others are doing it wrong.

We know that’s not the case. Yet here we/I are calling people out for doing things their way; for following a school of thought that we don’t agree with.

I’m guilty of this exact thing. I am a hypocrite at times. And I’m not the only one.

I dislike the idea of buying as an investment; the notion that “it’s so easy” to make money in this hobby. And often I vocalize (via Twitter) my displeasure for this. It’s the same reason why I still haven’t made up my mind on Gary V.

But is it wrong if someone wants to buy the hot prospect today with the idea of selling in the future?

No, not really as long as we’re calling it what it is. Because that’s not collecting. That’s a different form of participation in the hobby, or industry.

It’s easy to harp on nuance. Is the card mint or gem mint? Is it a rookie card or a pre-rookie card? Are you a collector or a flipper?

Bottom line: Who cares what others are doing. You can’t participate in this hobby wrong if you enjoy whatever it is you are doing. And so I plan to do a better job of filtering my thoughts in that arena going forward.

This entry was posted on September 18, 2019 at 11:55 am and is filed under Commentary with tags baseball, baseball cards, filter, hypocrite, investing, sports, thoughts, Topps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.