Social media and the hobby

[one20]

I have been in this hobby for a long time. I saw trekrun mention the newsgroup rec.collecting.sport.hockey the other day in a post. I remember buying lots of stuff of that newsgroup. Anyone remember teletrade auctions? My collecting habits have changed over the years, but the one constant is picking up cards for my Hull PC. I almost exclusively pick up my cards via purchasing now days. I don’t bust wax anymore, so I don’t have any of the hot, new stuff to trade away. Other than some occasional post here, I am a bit of a recluse when it comes to an online presence. Don’t do facebook. I did however just recently setup an Instagram account, thanks mostly to what I had seen some others doing. Already found some crazy card collections I would have never seen otherwise. I really enjoy seeing people's collections and the stuff that is out there. Just wondering if anyone has any tips, suggestions, or details on how they use social media to enhance their card collecting.
Thanks

 

[MR.M's Cards]

just came across this, think you may get more traffic if you post it in hobby talk

 

[MR.M's Cards]

if you are on instagram here is a thread that may help you out: http://www.hobbyinsider.net/forum/showthread.php?t=436913

 

[WatchMyBreaks]

To me it is very clearly in this order:

Facebook - I know a lot of people hate Facebook and that is a debate for another time but there is no better way of organizing people on the internet than Facebook. It's a better selling platform than eBay in my opinion.

Messageboards - I don't know if the "new money" coming into other sports is as aware of message boards as say Facebook but BO, SCF and HI all have a lot of activity. For me it is the most organized way of talking about the hobby.

Twitter - Twitter is a nightmare. Its very busy, you can get a lot of eyes on your posts but your posts also drown in a sea of other hobby related material. I get way more interaction with viewers or customers from using FB or messageboards.

Instagram - I don't really have that much of a PC these days so I don't use Instagram. But the value as a platform is definitely there, especially for younger buyers.

Discord/Reddit - Much like twitter, both of these platforms are very busy. Personally I think the hockey cards Reddit page is one of the most toxic places on the internet, hobby related. Reddit in general is a pretty terrible set up IMO.

Discord's functionality could be better than everything on this list but it still boils down to a traditional chatroom. Unless you're running your own server its going to be hard to stick out.

 

[creasecollector]

Great topic, thanks for posting this! I actually wrote an article about a very similar topic. You can check it out here, if you like:

How To Get Your Card Collection On The Map

Ever since coming back into the hobby in 2014-ish, Social Media has played a big part in my collecting nowadays. Communication has always been a strength of mine (not necessarily face-to-face, as I'm naturally shy, but I digress), so using social media/forums/blogging or just writing about the hobby in general has been something that has been a natural fit for me.

As for which channels to join, I think they all have their Pros & Cons associated with them, but they all can be used to share your collection with others and provide an avenue for potential contact about a card you need for your collection.

So join as many as you like, practice 'marketing' your collection, interact with other collectors and have fun with it!

:beer:

 

[Luongo Collector]

I was hesitant about using them all, but it seems like I'm slowly getting my name out there that I get random messages of high end Luongo's I need. I have acquired 5-10 high end cards that just fell in my lap. So far so good, and like anything, I trust it until I get burned.