IS SOCIAL MEDIA TO BLAME FOR SNEAKER INSANITY?

There’s an old philosophical question which asks: “If a tree falls in a forest an no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Now, one of the best sneaker re-sellers on the internet appears to be asking: “If you can’t post pictures of your Jordans on Insta, what’s the point of buying them?”

In an interview with GQ, Corgishoe talks about how he inadvertently got into the sneaker selling business and how he amassed such a large inventory of deadstock Nikes and Air Jordans from the ’90s and early ’00s.

Harnessing the power of Instagram, he appears to be making a pretty health profit from his venture.

Yet, ironically, he says that social media is to thank / blame for the explosion in demand for such shoes:

“If social media didn’t exist, 98 percent of those currently involved in this hobby would have no interest in sneakers beyond owning a pair or two that serve for a specific function,” he says.

“I often wonder, ‘If you couldn’t post photos of your shoes would you even be buying shoes?’ Social media has given everyone a platform to voice (or scream) their opinion, to create an internet persona or lifestyle. It’s allowed people to be someone they will never be in their everyday life.

“Social media has also dumbed-down the sneaker hobby and stunted individualism. Knowledge, an appreciation of history, and well-rounded taste have all been replaced by the masses trying to be the first in line to be just like everyone else.

“This is why you see post after post on social media outlets of endless amounts of people thirsting, buying, and celebrating the same select shoes month after month after month.

“The hobby has become so repetitive, predictable, and cliché. Buying shoes is not a talent or skill. Yet for some reason, sneaker sites and other social media outlets focus on these buyers as if they did something exceptional and treat them like royalty.”