I used to read Volksworld Magazine, MBUK, Sidewalk Surfer, Ride.. amongst others, usually cover to cover many times over so there was always room for me to consume more media, but like denim, these^ were all niche subject matter and when similar magazines jumped on the bandwagon.. there was only a certain number of VWs, MTBs, Skateboarders... in the world so all it did was dilute the quality... like we see in the denimworld but it isn't just one extra magazine to read, it's the opinions of millions all vying for your clicks so the quality has diluted to almost neutral. Are $15 jeans from Wallmart better than SC Okinawa? Do i want to spend 20mins reading this or do i want those 20mins of my life back to do something more fulfilling

Broark was obvious. Srudy, I didn't have on my radar

I shoulda put money down on who the proxies were going to, would have been a better bet than most anything else these days. They look great.

Instagram is more or less a digital shopping mall at this point. You could tell in the early days. I was early on facebook and not so much on IG, but it got to the point where - as a photographer - that was actually where you got decent jobs (for awhile). When it was still new(ish) art buyers and photo editors actually would use it as a source. That was a poor decision - I always felt like IG was not and could not be a portfolio but I was in the minority with that sentiment. I always tried to forge working relationships with personal (and not social media) contact, but for awhile I played the game. The reason I got on it was for work, but it wasn’t supposed to feel like or look like it - but it still was.  I’m not alone in that sense. That happened in so many industries. It has become an almost necessity of small business / creative, because that’s where so much of the public goes to see what exists. You need to be visible, somehow. I fuckin hate it, I am happier being off the platform, but to be honest, deleting all of my Meta etc. accounts is a privilege in its own right. Most of my colleagues would love to but cannot fathom it. It’s become like an extension of themselves and needed to exist in the digital world where they actually bring in the revenue that pays their rent. So yea, it’s pretty shit in a lot of ways but that’s the world we live in.