This one is going to take a while and I apologize…
This first full post comes from my Macbook Pro. While not a very interesting line of conversation (unless you are @eugenekan), I find it important to note, if only to speak out loud to myself. For the last hour I have been trying to work my first proper post on this “new” blog of mine from an iMac – my day to day “blogging” workhorse and music machine (I highly recommend them). For this line of writing, it simply did not work me (note I had to post a Broken Social Scene video as filler prior to this and have already been flogged by at least one commenter – thanks ‘ave’).
Some quick housekeeping: for those who followed my other “blog” on Highsnobiety, you’ll surely get the same mix of content. Those familiar with The Social Consumer will (hopefully) notice some similarities. If anything, I’m hoping this will kick my ass to restart that project, which Nick Schonberger and I began before Selectism launched. I get an email almost weekly from Nick on my lack of content for SC. He should continue on the regular to mail me regarding this.
But before I get back to the former, I’ll do the obvious and thank the readers who have supported Selectism as well as the writers who keep the site updated with, what we believe to be, a very wide look at products and goods which matter on some level. While we’re not working towards greater goals such as working new fuels from agricultural waste (amazingly important), we do believe we provide a service to some. I also want to thank all the critics, naysayers, and jaded comment gluttons who continue to question and critique each and every one of our posts. We thank you for off-the-cuff honesty as well as your occasional ridiculousness. You make us pause, think, laugh, and feel concerned sometimes in the same breath.
Now to the heart of what I wanted to discuss. It is a mixture of of ideas and thoughts floating through my head as I think back at my time working in this space…
Not five years ago, I was working on a podcast project called the Weeklydrop. The show, which began as a response to the growing world of sneaker culture, was a laugh out loud talk program unlike anything at the time. We worked in opening a communication channel with listeners (’sneakerheads’ as well as a slew of industry insiders from the world of PR and beyond) with the creators designing, developing, and producing the goods and services which came from the world often described as “streetwear.” The show very quickly turned into a vehicle for Rob, Frank, and I to verbally demean one another while our guests sat back and tried to understand what they had signed up for. Through all of that passion was a strong purpose in providing our listeners with history lessons and insight from an loose industry that never actually asked for the attention.
In the end, the show worked. As hosts, we did not, and today we’re all doing excellent things in our own personal circles as an offshoot of Weeklydrop. That is the one positive aspect of the show.
In my case, Weeklydrop allowed me to explore a poorman’s version of sociology and consumerism. Some would call it marketing, but it goes well beyond that. At the time, I used to speak with Mr. Schonberger ad nauseam on ideas before we launched The Social Consumer. We explored “the moment” in a very different way than The New York Times version (an excellent blog as well). Fundamentally we attempted to explore the “hype movement” but quickly moved onto reviewing dating sites and arguing for a moratorium on heritage.
Fast forward to the birth of Selectism, which, for all intents and purposes, is refined take on menswear blogging using the Highsnobiety model of volume. Many call it “product” blogging which is very different than what I consider to be “opinion/editorial” blogging.
I find it awfully important to make this distinction. The reason is that I fear some may suspect our “News” (front page) to be op/ed. This is not the case unless a post refers to one of our features or interviews. In general, Selectism is a “product” blog. This means we sift through thousands of RSS feeds linking to everything from pencils to other fashion centric and niche topics. We accept the endless pitches (good and bad) to deliver our users with short and concise “hits” that usually revolve around single goods and services (with some clear exceptions: runway shots, lookbooks, features).
“Op/ed” blogging is a bit different in my eyes. There you should expect to see more theory based writing which offers validated arguments for/against any number of subjects. Sure, Selectism occasionally drops the sly counterpoint or conversation starter in our “News” but we don’t do it too often (maybe we should).
My point is that our style of blogging is more about providing a wide product selection which sometimes means we have products that overlap or are similar. This can happen when something sparks our interest which can be clearly seen on days where multiple hats make the “News.”
I have gone on about this matter in order to address one of the most direct comments we have had this year regarding a rag & bone Spring 2011 collection post:
“I just dont get how people buy into this stuff…”
The commenter is, generally speaking, correct. How can anyone “buy” into everything we post? Then again, no one is suggesting you should.
What Selectism brings to the market is that choice and option to be interested or scroll on for more. While my co-workers may not agree with me, I do not believe our focus is to trend. If anything we just give options. I believe “op/ed” and “niche” blogs do a better job of this. We simply aggregate it, put it to the users and allow for them to decide.
This brings me to one of my favorite posts on Gary Warnett’s GWARIZM blog regarding journalism:
“If you’ve written an uncritical, bombastic paragraph about a new t-shirt company by slightly deconstructing the promo-guff someone emailed you as a PDF attachment and are patting yourself on the back I’d like to get semi-literate for a second and point you in the direction of the books above.”
Mr. Warnett (as usual) makes an outstanding argument for bloggers to be disassociated with the term journalist. He’s very right in some regards but his piece does not explore what modern journalism is to him. As a fan, I would very much like to hear his take on the matter. Maybe I’ll invite him to jump on the phone and we’ll round table this topic. Or not.
While at least three of our staffers have degrees in Journalism (NS, JD, and I), I do not believe any of us see our “News” as proper journalistic endeavors. They are much closer to being “quick hits” that inform our readers of the “new” in whatever form we desire.
And that may well be the most I’ll discuss on the topic of Selectism outside of maybe answering some reader mail. Thanks for making it this far.
