The illusion of doing your own research?
We keep seeing this sentence everywhere in the hobby "Do your own research."
And as a general motto it isn't a bad one. Buying a watch can be expensive. Knowing what you are getting yourself into is good. Pre-purchase research is a way to avoid post purchase regret. And let's not forget that research is part of the hunt that a lot of us enjoy.
But this has led to a kind of mirage that the goal is to not be influenced (Yes, I use this word on purpose). The "I am in the driver's seat" is sometimes becoming "no one has any impact on what I do" like it is a badge of honor.
How many of us can point out to a watch they didn't like at first and grew on them? Where do you think this "growing" comes from? Spontaneously from within?
I didn't know AnOrdain existed before watching Teddy Baldassare. I am now on a list that may get me a watch if society doesn't collapse before my build slot (a distinct possibility). Of course, there were many steps in between. But doing "my own research" was literally reading what other people had to say. And since for every positive opinion, there is a negative one, trying to weigh them. There is a lot of information out there, but the only truly objective one is... the spec sheet. Everything else is subjective. So I made my mind off of other people's minds. And none of that process would have started without someone on YouTube saying "Hey, look at this cool dial." In this case, said process culminated with two trusted advisors: one telling me to pull the trigger and the other talking me out of it. And the first one clearly found the right arguments to convince me that I should go for it. He literally influenced me.
I owned Casios before the existence of YouTube or social media. But there is no denying that my latest G-shock came from seeing a picture of it on Instagram and filing it away under "I really like that color." Would I have bought a Square G without it? Likely. Would that specific one have earned my favors? I can't be sure.
I am not advocating blindly following your favorite YouTuber, Instagram account or podcast and I truly believe that one should do their research. But I feel like we sometimes maintain ourselves in the delusion that we are unaffected by external influences like it's the ultimate goal. Is it really shameful to say ANDREW MADE ME BUY IT if it led you to something you truly enjoy?
Fountain pen collector and stationery addict looking for a place to post her wrist shots without alienating her friends.
I see viewing social media channels as "window shopping". Does this influence you one way or another? Maybe. If you're out and about looking then I'd say you're already in a position to be influenced towards the purchase.
Social media guides me to LOOK into a watch,it certainly would never force me into a purchase. That said I'd say vloggers have a high success rate in steering me towards what I purchase.
For a passion or an interest essentially based on a materialistic consumption, yes we are influenced and we influence others in return. Knowing how to stand back is difficult. Just as it is for a community that's a fan of X watchmaking house, which lately has been making crappy movements and enjoying making too many limited editions, will in any case have to face up to its own biases.
The question raised is an interesting one, and it makes me happy to read your post. Have a nice day
I see viewing social media channels as "window shopping". Does this influence you one way or another? Maybe. If you're out and about looking then I'd say you're already in a position to be influenced towards the purchase.
I like the analogy.
I swear this thing had paragraphs when I hit "post" :)
Fixed (I hope).
And trust but verify is definitely a good adage to live by!
Hopoefully we all know the old saying about opinions and human anatomy. 😉
I agree with you that the only non-subjective information is contained in the specs. All the rest is simple opinion, even those with decades of experience in the watch world. Writers, print and virtual, all relate their opinion and experience. The trick is who do you trust?
To try and say nobody is inflenced about purchases is naive. Writers, bloggers, inflencers, manufacturer WEB sites, spouses and sales people all have some sort of "influence" on your decission. That extends from a long drawn out article to a simple response like, "yeah, that's nice", when you ask somebody else their opinion. Did you buy it because of them or did they reinforce a previously made decission? Either way, some sort of influence, no mater how minor, occured.
A year ago I would have said with deep confession that I am no G-Shock guy. I saw the rise of these watches and I have been among those who poked and mocked them as cuckoo clock on a strap, a brickstone on a band, like "Hey mate, you're walking slanted. Maybe the gravitation on one side of your arms is out of balance." I literally ignored G-Shocks for 40 years, until early this year a YouTube about a GMW-B5000GD crossed my screen. I was perplexed, that this kind of G-Shocks existed. I did "my research" and endet up buying one of those full metal G-Shocks. I still don't have much interest in the plastic league. But inspiration by and discussion among others is sometimes, or better said most often, the opening to new spaces and discoveries.
Right On! Research is a social activity, the researcher checks on what has been done or discovered and builds on that. Of course we are influencing each other. We are also deepening our engagement through our enjoyment of discovering new things through our interactions. How do we know we are not being misled? Three things! Diversity of viewpoints that can be expressed in open discussion, clarity on the issue at hand, and a willingness to find out more.
True... But what G-Shock have you bought?!?
The influence we have on each other is undeniable, I think. But for me, the question boils down to some mixture of, “did I buy the AnOrdain because I really like/want-to-be-like Teddy, or because I like/love it?”
I don’t know that either of those questions is better or worse, it’s just a matter of where you place the value. I would tend to be more in the “do I like/love it” camp. It sounds like you tend to be in that camp too.
For me, watching a ton of Teddy’s videos when I first started getting into this hobby was great for learning about watches. I really like his content. But I realized pretty quickly that I don’t vibe with his style too often. And then I found the Mad Watch Collector’s content — and started seeing watches that I really like, presented in a way that clicked with me. Did I buy my Willard because I like/love the watch, totally, but is that 100% devoid of his influence, definitely not.
P.S. congrats on pulling the trigger on the AnOrdain. If I had the income, I’d be in the same boat. Their dials look incredible. Teddy’s video piqued my interest in them too.
I think when people say they weren't influenced it means that they didn't just buy the watch off of just one influencer's opinion.
Too many watches out there to discover on our own, so we will be notified of watches by SM or YT. But doing that research of taking all the info out there and weighing it means is the measured approach, not being influenced by Teddy or Andrew, or Nico.
Impulse buying online is dangerous. Best is to try it on then coming back a few days later and see if you’ve still got the itch. For example, I was on the fence with Nomos and most reviews rave about them but after wearing they are well finished and very comfortable to wear - I was impressed.
True... But what G-Shock have you bought?!?
Matching nails 👌 My autistic traits are so happy 😅
IMO you have a great point. Also, I have to add I do love the nail & watch color: big fan points there! It was hard to "discern" what your point was because A) this isn't an AP Senior English writing assignment it's Watch Crunch nerd ramble B) If you can't admit the Internet & Social Media has an influence on your watch collecting you are in denial. See the professor in this stream for a well educated colleague with a PhD in Psychology (that person is probably serving a latte at Starbucks right now OR running for mayor of your city cuz they know what's good for ya)
I do like to try every watch on that I purchase. For sure anything over 1K in my world. Ice been let down by some 10K internet stunners I truly entered my AD with the intent to purchase... until I tried the watch on. I ordered a Casio Oceanus S100 & Rubber strap last night site unseen. I've stalked that watch for years and have seen it in the wild. Time will tell (see what I did there? Incase you can't discern) if I blew $400.00 The Internet & YouTube got me on this one: exactly to your point
There's an element of "macho decider" in this world, and the more general "do your own research" crowd seems to know very little about what actual research entails. Still, it's pretty human to do something and immediately form a narrative "I did this because I wanted to ..." even when there's no truth to that story. It helps simplify the chaotic universe and give us a sense of enduring (and culpable) self. I'd prefer that people were more reflective about their influences and didn't blithely push the "I buy what I like" story (it's complicated, right?). It's certainly not the most important issue at the moment, but honesty about influence contains a certain amount of generosity and scales to larger societal issues. We're in this together. When you love something, there's always a strength-in-weakness component. You're vulnerable and a bit silly. These communities are tacit admissions of that silliness, and there's plenty "I love you, man [slaps back really hard to temper the vulnerable component]" structure in the way we talk about this stuff.
There's not exactly consensus on this, but I often think about the studies from this book and what they might say about how little we individually decide on anything https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262731621/the-illusion-of-conscious-will/
There aren't many watch retailers where I live, and watches are way overpriced in my country (like everything else) so the only way to get a good watch is to buy it online.
Becuase of that all my watches have had at least some online presence for me to look into before purchase