Image via Complex Original
I never chose to be a sneaker writer, it just kind of happened. I grew up reading NikeTalk and Hypebeast, and spent much of my twenties obsessively collecting sneakers and working at footwear stores. Some time after getting a journalism degree and writing about menswear every day for several years, I landed a full-time editorial job here at Complex, and my beat was, you guessed it, sneakers.
Everything sort of fell into place. This was also the time that I began to look at sneaker blogs more analytically. The only way I could be better at my job—besides working hard at it everyday—was to see what the competition was doing and take notes on what I liked and what I didn’t.
A lot has changed since 2006, when I was checking blogs to get an early glimpse at Japan-exclusive Air Maxes or to find out release dates for the latest Nike SB product, which could usually be sourced from NikeTalk. I wanted to learn the back stories on why certain releases were important, along with reliable information and reading writers that made it feel like a personal dialogue was going on between them and whoever was visiting the website. And there was very little of that going on, at least at the major blogs.
There's now a formula for blog posts about sneakers.
Everything seems half-assed. It's a race to beat each other to posting stories first, and somewhere along the way, the reasons I got into sneakers and journalism got lost. Many times, blog posts are simply about unreleased or newly available sneakers, and they include three things: 1) a one-sentence rundown of what a brand has been up to lately, which is usually referred to as “busy” 2) a physical description of the sneaker being discussed 3) and a release and price, or the oft-used “stay tuned to [insert site’s name] for further details.
Many posts are built off of speculative, under-researched information, and the writing is something you'd expect out of an intern—which, sometimes, is accurate. I’m not saying that every writer needs to be perfect all the time, and that blogs aren’t prone to factual mishaps while trying to get a post up quicker than others, but it happens at an alarming rate within the sneaker blogging world, and it deserves a closer look.
It became about mastering Google, not putting out great work.
Most sneaker publications and websites aren’t structurally set up the same way as a local newspaper or big-time print magazine. Many of them were started by people who may or may not have had prior experience with writing and publishing. They registered a straight-forward domain, started to post relevant content, and moved their way up the SEO ladder, landing themselves at the top of Google search results. From that point on, ad dollars came rolling in and they were minted as legitimate websites and ones worth paying attention to.
Many of these sites delivered posts worth reading, or at least having on your radar, and they spawned a storm of copycat sites who believed they could do it better. These blogs are either run by a single person or have a slew of writers, often on their first writing gig, who are simply chasing the news cycle of the sites that got the story first. The writers have very little to no incentive of writing something interesting or insightful, and simply circulate the same piece of now-public information.
It doesn’t matter, though. This strategy brings social media followers and free product. The current wave of “bloggers,” however, don't write at all. They take images and release dates from reputable sites or their “sources” and put them on Twitter or Instagram, with no accreditation or attribution. If the people behind these sites or accounts don’t care about the quality or credibility of the work they're producing, then why should their readers?
It's unfair to hold smaller operations to the same standard as bigger publications, but there's a way for the little guy to make great work. It starts with slowing down. The answer might not be producing more articles, but a few-person staff can work on creating quality writing. They might not be able to churn out longform pieces at a burning rate, but a few of these will go a longer way than a brief write up about a pair of sneakers that's going to go on sale anyway.
There's a focus on release dates, not context.
It’s safe to say that an overwhelming majority of people who started visiting sneaker blogs came there to find just images, prices, and release dates. A lot of people who find their way to sneaker sites via Google simply want to find out when and where they can purchase this weekend’s hottest sneaker. They’re not coming for the quality of writing, they just want facts, and a lot of sites know this.
This could be because of a lower median age of the readers who don’t expect the same level of writing that The New York Times or Wall Street Journal will offer. And why should they? They’re reading about sneakers after all. Or, possibly, they’ve become accustomed to the level of content that their favorite sites deliver, and they’ve accepted it as the norm. If the readers don’t hold sneaker blogs to a higher standard, then the sites themselves don’t have to, either.
This has devolved to a point where they don’t mind if they post exactly the same things as their competitors or haven’t carved out a specific niche or slant for what they cover. They’re complacent with copying and pasting press releases—something simply putting them in bracket quotes—and hitting publish. The editorial spirit of posting selective content has all but evaporated.
It takes a few minutes to research something on the Internet these days, and I suggest that all writers do this. Doing something as simple as finding a relatable story or tidbit can elevate a story from so-so to insightful. If the writer then inserts their personal voice or gives some sort of opinion that's not out of line—there's no point in just saying a sneaker sucks, because why are you writing about it in the first place? Most sites just use images from press releases, which is convenient and gives a clear view of the product, but there's also a way to show an editorial perspective through photography. If you have the means to shoot an original editorial, then by all means, do it. Original content will always outshine the stuff everyone's already seen.
No one thinks for themselves.
There’s very little independent thought in sneaker blogging. The majority of content posted—and sometimes, we’re guilty of this— is essentially an extension of the brands’ marketing agendas. Blogs are either just posting whatever the latest and greatest sneakers are from a brand, with no critical analysis, or just posting links on where to buy sneakers.
That’s not a bad thing to do from time to time. People who read blogs want to know where to buy the newest products, instead of aimlessly searching the Internet themselves, but there needs to be a point where a critical viewpoint is interjected. Or at least something that’s reported on. It should be normal for blogs to pass up the latest press release or not write about every new sneaker within the basketball category that’s on the market. Once you move past just getting alerts on your phone about when the latest Jordan retros drop, there's an entire culture of people who love shoes, and talking about them to no end.
Twitter is consistently full of conversation about sneakers, but rarely are these ideas brought to life. There's so much discussion that happens on sneaker forums, such as NikeTalk or Sole Collector, but little of it is put together in a linear, thought-out fashion. These are the pieces that people would love to read, and often say: "That's what I've been thinking all along!"
The brands might not have interest in these stories, but the readers sure do. And if they're done tastefully, a writer shouldn't worry about being blacklisted from the next influencer event or seasonal preview.
If we don't tell our stories, other people will—and they may not get it right.
Doing a writer’s due diligence should go beyond an industry-scheduled Q&A with a footwear designer that asks, “What’s your favorite part of the sneaker?” There should be things that people actually crave to read. The lack of this has started to enable bigger publications, who don’t traditionally cover our market, to try their hand at reporting sneaker news, and it’s not always reflective of the current state of the culture.
The stories are usually built out better and have more solid reporting, but they’re done by people who have minimal experience in what makes the sneaker world go round. While they’re well-written, these stories lack the impact and insight that a quality sneaker blog or writer could deliver.
I imagine that a lot of people who write for sneaker blogs took some sort of journalism class in college. I'm not saying that journalism is easy work, and it takes a certain level of responsibility. If someone cares enough about a topic, though, they'll pound the pavement and search out the truth or relay the message that they've known was write all along.
If people are angry about large newspapers covering sneaker culture, and doing it in a lame attempt, then they should beat these publications to the punch and write about it first. Interviewing someone in the sneaker industry isn't always captivating in its own right, unless you're talking to Tinker Hatfield, Michael Jordan, or Phil Knight. But talking to someone is only half the story, what the larger, more mainstream outlets excel at—and what the little guys can learn from them—is figuring out how to elevate niche culture into popular culture, whether it's making it relatable or putting it in the context of a larger industry or movement.
So what's next?
Ten years ago, sneaker blogging was a new idea. Most blogs were just getting conceptualized, and no one knew that there would be a serious readership interest about limited-edition sneakers. Writing small blurbs about releases that American consumers would never see in-store was fine. We were all getting educated about different facets of the community and building our collective base knowledge on sneaker culture. But there has to be a way to elevate the sneaker blogging industry.
There has to be a general medium that balances quick news quips with serious opinions that help direct the course of sneakers. At the least, there should be reflective thought about why we buy these items and what they say about us as sneakerheads on a deeper level than one-line jokes or shopping lists (we still need those, too, by the way).
Being a sneaker writer isn’t the toughest profession, but it isn’t easy. We still need to get the right sources and convey our writing in a relatable fashion, while gaining new readers and making things fun along the way. There just needs to be a way for everyone to get what they want while making the term “sneaker blogger” a respectable one, and it can happen one quality piece of content at a time.
Matt Welty is a staff writer at Complex. You can follow him on Twitter here.
