Is Social Media Ruining The Hobby?

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Hey sports card fans, it's John Wade Bogs fan. Hope you're all doing well.

[00:00:06]I hate to admit it, but I'm old enough to remember the start of the internet.

[00:00:14]In fact, when I was in college, I believe that was the first time people started emailing people. And I thought that was an amazing thing to be able to type a message in a computer and send it off to somewhere across the world and they would get it almost instantaneously.

[00:00:33]And I remember dialing up to the internet through AOL online. If you know, you know. And now today it seems like our whole world revolves around the internet and our interactions are all on social media. That's how we communicate with friends and family and give our opinions on various things. And it just got me to to thinking about all the stuff I see on various social media platforms, whether it be YouTube or Twitter or Facebook or other online platforms, all the negativity that seems to be out there. And I'm wondering if uh social media is somehow ruining the hobby. Now, I have a brief video clip here that I want to play that sort of um outlines or gives an example of what I want to talk about in this video.

[00:01:47]Good one.

[00:01:50]I wrote the last equation wrong on purpose because I wanted you to learn something important.

[00:01:55]Now, you all witnessed I wrote the correct equation nine times, but nobody congratulated me on that, did you? But as soon as I made a mistake, you laughed and criticized me. Why do you think that is?

[00:02:08]>> Maybe it's because you're supposed to be smarter than us.

[00:02:11]>> Yeah, and it's funny. I may be in a position of authority, but it doesn't make me perfect or smarter than you. I'm a teacher, but I'm also a human being who makes mistakes.

[00:02:23]The point of this exercise today is to teach a very important lesson. You will soon discover the world is quick to criticize and find fault and much slower to praise and find the positive. You'll all experience criticism many times in your life. Those who are lucky enough to succeed or become quote unquote successful will likely experience more criticism than the rest because you'll find the one thing people love more than pointing out another's mistakes is when they can do it to someone who's achieved more than them. All right. So, in that clip, the teacher got nine of the math problems right, but made a stupid or easy mistake on the 10th math problem.

[00:03:12]And he got ridiculed for it. got laughed at and made the point that people these days, they don't praise you for the nine times you got something right, but they will quickly point out the one time that you got something wrong. Now, don't get me wrong, uh, social media definitely does have its good side. I can tell you that I definitely would not be enjoying the hobby as much as I do today if it weren't for social media. If I didn't take that step of uh watching videos, interacting with videos on YouTube, and starting my own channel, interacting on uh I still call it Twitter. I I have a problem calling it X, but interacting with people on X and Facebook and getting to meet so many great people out there across the country and even foreign countries. Um, and so there's there's definitely a positive side to social media, but you can't help but get or feel that you're bombarded by negativity, things that go wrong or not right or people that want to complain about, they quickly go to social media and post or do a video uh complaining about what went wrong.

[00:04:44]Now, this is beyond just sports cards.

[00:04:48]I vent venture to say that you could probably go on Amazon, pick any product you want, great products, and you look into the uh the feedback that people have and I can guarantee you every single product is going to have some negative reviews.

[00:05:10]uh came damaged. Uh it wasn't the right size. The instructions were terrible. Uh it broke a week after I used it. It It's going to happen if you're selling a product or service out there.

[00:05:28]Something's going to go wrong sometimes.

[00:05:32]Nothing is perfect in this world. Yet a lot of times if people are satisfied or happy, they just don't take the time to point that out. But if something goes wrong, they are quick to let everyone know how mad they are. Restaurant reviews are another one. You can go to a restaurant five times, have a great meal, that sixth one was a little cold or it wasn't cooked right or took too long to get your meal, you're quick to go on to Yelp to say how terrible your experience was. I don't know if it's human nature. I don't know what it is about it, but we just have a tendency to complain and enjoy watching videos and interacting with those complaints. So, I'm going to go over a couple examples here and and I would love your feedback in the comments as to whether social media that the positives of social media outweigh the negativity or whether the negativity just seems to pull people down and outweighs the the good things about social media. So, first let's talk about grading. Now, I know there's the latest big news with PSA pausing some of the grading levels. I'm not going to get into that. Um, and this is definitely not a um way to say that I am uh supporting PSA or forgiving PSA for all the stuff that's, you know, going on with them and other grading companies.

[00:07:20]But obviously if people experience negative issues with grading and I'm going to use PSA as an example.

[00:07:32]If you are unhappy with the grades that you got on a submission, you're quick to point out how disappointed you are in the grades that you get. I don't see a lot of videos where uh people go on and and do a video and say, "Hey, you know what? Yep. I thought this was going to get an eight. I thought this was going to get a five.

[00:07:57]You know, I I thought this may have a 10 and it got a 10." Whatever the case may be. And at the end of the video, they say, "Yeah, you know what? You know, I was I was pleased. I was happy."

[00:08:08]You see the ones that are, "Man, I can't believe this. This got a six. What What did I miss?" And I thought it was going to be a nine or a 10 and it came back a six.

[00:08:19]I I'm not sure the latest numbers. I I could be off a little bit, but I think PSA is grading what nearly one and a half million cards. It's maybe even more than that a month.

[00:08:33]Do you think everyone who receives cards uh back from PSA on a monthly basis is going to social media and talking about their experience? I I I think for those of us who are on social media um for a decent amount of time and interact a lot on social media, I think sometimes we forget or think that that's the entire world uh of of people and experiences.

[00:09:08]I bet that there and this is going beyond sports cards as well. Whatever the case may be, that if you're on social media, that's that's everyone. It's not. There are probably I don't know how many times people that are not interacting on social media that are on social media. So, you get all these people receiving all these submissions back from PSA on a monthly basis. And I'd venture to say the vast majority of them aren't posting a video on YouTube, aren't making a comment on Twitter or Facebook.

[00:09:48]They may not even interact much at all on social media. So, you don't hear about their experiences. You hear about the negative experiences.

[00:10:00]How many videos do we see or hear that all PSA, you know, they're idiots? they they have the wrong label. They they I submitted two cards and they switched the labels or something was wrong with the label.

[00:10:16]It happens. Out of one and a half plus million cards graded per month, are there going to be errors? Yes. Just like anything, if you if you produce a million and a half widgets and you sell them, not every single one and a half million of them are going to be perfect.

[00:10:41]There's going to be some mistake made in the production or whatever. And it happens. Damaged, missing, stolen cards, it happens. Does it happen at the rate that we think it does because we see we happen to see uh 10 videos over the span of 3 months of PSA. I sent my cards to PSA and they damaged them. Is it going to happen? Yes, I can guarantee it's going to happen. What's the percentage?

[00:11:16]What's the actual real percentage? We hear all about the negative experiences.

[00:11:21]We don't hear No one does a video. Hey, I got my PSA or SGC order back and hey, guess what? I'm really happy because they, you know, my cards didn't get damaged. You don't see those videos. You see the videos that complain that look, there's no way this corner was damaged when I sent it.

[00:11:46]So, let's get beyond grading for a second here because that's that's a that's a hot topic. um you know when you're when you're dealing if you mention grading versus you know not grading your cards that almost has become like politics or religion on social media. There are people it seems that like are you know for whatever reason like to have their cards graded. I'm one of them at least for vintage. And there are some on the other side that absolutely hate the whole grading thing. They think it's a scam, waste of money, all that stuff. And and it just seems at least on social media that the sides are like getting further and further apart almost like politics.

[00:12:40]You bring up something on one side, you get hammered by the other. No matter if you're left or right, whatever you believe in, you know, religion, I I actually don't hear a lot about religious bickering back and forth on social media. Maybe I'm just not on that that side of uh or interactive that part of social media, but I see a lot of political posts on both sides. And you look at the comments and it's just like people throwing bars and jabs and insults and stuff back and forth and it tends to get like personal just because you have one belief. Um, if there are certainly people out there out there that have the opposite belief and let you know uh that they don't agree with you, uh, whatn not. Now, I'm not on whatn not. I I've never uh bid on cards uh gone on there and and tried to to win some cards off of whatnot uh auctions and and dealers, but I see a lot of videos where people point out potential scammers or things that certain whatnot sellers aren't doing properly or, you know, just they're bad actors.

[00:14:01]I'm sure there are a lot of people on whatnot that are selling cards that treat their customers great. If there are some problems or issues, they they step up and make things good and that they are very reputable sellers on whatnot.

[00:14:19]You don't hear or see a lot of videos or comments of, "Hey, I'm doing a a video about this one whatnot seller and yeah, you know what? He does a great job. He, you know, his auctions are true. Hey, if if something sells way below comps, he doesn't get upset with the buyer. Uh, he ships everything. He's fast for shipping. It's it's he he's a he's a great person on whatnot. No, you see shorts or videos of all these nefarious sellers or bad actors on whatnot. You're quick to point out the bad people. And I'm not saying that people shouldn't point out things that go wrong. If there are issues with something, people need to know about it. Okay? They need to be aware of potential problems or issues.

[00:15:15]And again, this goes beyond sports cards. But that's all it seems to be. It just seems to be the negativity out there. That's all you see. and it makes it sound like everything is bad. There's nothing good about whatever you're you're talking about.

[00:15:34]eBay authenticity.

[00:15:37]So, how many videos have you seen where people say or or posts on Twitter, "Look, I got my card back from eBay authenticity and it's come out of its semi-ridge holder and it got damaged.

[00:15:51]Uh, this is terrible.

[00:15:54]What percentage really is this happening a 100% of the time? I'd probably say not. Are the majority of people getting cards back from eBay authenticity? Um, with the card perfectly intact in this semi- rigid holder if it's ungraded and they're perfectly fine with the process.

[00:16:16]You don't see a lot of people saying, "Hey, I got my card back from eBay authenticity and it came back perfect.

[00:16:23]I'm so happy. No, you see a post on Twitter.

[00:16:28]eBay did it again. I got my authenticity thing and here they show a picture of it and it's out of the semi- rigid and you think it happens all the time.

[00:16:40]And then of course you have the uh the the keyboard warriors out there, the online trolls who have usernames that don't have a a real name or a picture associated with them and you do some video where you think you're you're talking about something positive. You're showing this off. You're you're talking about whatever and somehow they find some fault or have something negative that they just want to say. It happens beyond sports cards. You name it. You post something and there are people that who just love to troll and spew out negative comments. And then of course you have the general hobby drama.

[00:17:24]Whatever it is, the latest thing that's uh breaking news for the week. people rush to do videos and talk about how terrible this is, how just unimaginable it is and what a just just bad thing that's that that's happening. They they they love to criticize. They love to do um rant videos. Um, I don't see a lot of other than, you know, and it's mainly for the the collectors that I interact with, you know, showing off some great pickups or attending a show or doing collaborative videos and just talking about cards in the hobby in general. Um, there's that group, but there's a lot of hobby drama videos out there. And then sort of not quite on the flip side, but the the sort of negativity that's out there are all these videos of breakers. Well, what clips do they use do these breakers use on their videos or or YouTube shorts or on Instagram?

[00:18:33]Of course, they show the one of one or crazy RPA or this out of five or the latest, you know, rookie. They show the hits that they pull.

[00:18:46]They don't do videos of all right, hey, let's open this one box and they're opening the packs and yeah, there's not much of anything, which is probably the majority of the time of the things that they open and break on their live streams and stuff, but no, they highlight the hits and it makes people think that if they're new to the hobby that, oh geez, I I can go out and buy one of these boxes and I'm I'm going to get a big hit. And they don't. Well, maybe it's the next box. Uh, and they don't. Well, it's got to be the third box. I'm I'm going to get this big card, this big rookie, and the the auto and all this stuff. And they don't get anything. And then they get frustrated or they just they get sucked in and spend way too much money, more than they can afford on getting into breaks and hoping to get that big hit because that's all they see on social media.

[00:19:43]They see all these people getting all these big cards uh through breaks and they think it happens all the time and it doesn't. The majority of the time you're not going to get much of anything. And of course, you have these hobby influencers. are all out there telling you what the hottest cards to buy, how to make money, uh through the hobby and it's yeah, hey, you do this, you do that, follow me, you know, here's my advice to do this. And it just they they come across some some of them come across as just snake oil salesmen that they're just pitching get quick get rich quick schemes using sports cards. And I'm sure there are some people out there that have just bought it hookline and sinker. go out, spend all this money, and they they just don't make out as well as some of these other influencers make it out to be. Whatever you do out there, it it takes effort to make money. There's no quick get rich quick schemes or things out there. There's it's usually there's a lot more that that you need to do and be disciplined to make money in no matter what you're doing um out there.

[00:21:11]And of course, you have FOMO, you know, fear fear of missing out. And you know, I I admit that, you know, I watch certain videos of of some of my fellow collectors and the the cards that they get in the mail. you know, I I get I get jealous and and it it takes some effort for me to say, "All right, hey, I'm happy for them." I am glad that they were able to add that card to their collection. That's not something I can maybe afford right now. I'm happy for them and I try not to be jealous, but I what I don't do is I go out and overextend myself just to say, "Hey, I I got this card as well." Uh because I may not be able to afford that card. Um, it's not always easy, but when you see some great cards that people have either in their collection or just pick up, um, it's hard. It it it is hard not to feel, uh, jealous or to want to go out and and get a similar card, um, even if you can't afford it. And and I I know I I didn't experience it wasn't really FOMO, but there was a a period about 20 years ago where I spent a lot more than I really had. I racked up some credit card debt buying baseball cards and it took a while for me to to get back to to, you know, paying off all that that credit card debt from my overspending. But I'd see a card and I and I want it. And hey, I want to build my collection. I want to get all these great cards. And it's it's not always easy seeing a card that you really really want, but you just don't have the money for it. And it's so easy to put something on a credit card. Um, so that's sort of what I have for you in in in this video. Um, again, would love to know your your comments. Obviously, there are some positive and great things about social media in particular regarding this hobby that I I've been doing for decades. I I think I did the math. It's getting close to 50 years that I've been collecting baseball cards. And it's only been maybe the last six or seven years that that I've um either interacted or or have done videos on my YouTube channel for about you know six seven seven years had that level of of interaction with with social media and there definitely has been some positives for me but I I'm just I'm sort of getting tired a little bit of just seeing all the negativity that is out there. It's constant and it's it's you can't it's hard to filter things out. You can say, "Okay, well, this guy, he he mainly does, you know, rant and drama videos or this. I'm not going to follow his his channel."

[00:24:12]Okay, fine. Um, but it's just it's just it's out there and it's so prevalent and you can even do the right things. I forget who it was. Um, oh shoot, someone did a video recently. I I I I'm sorry.

[00:24:29]I'm just forgetting what it was, but it was some some positive video. He was just showing something off about his collection and he noted that like, hey, this was this was a a nice video. He was showing something off and yet there were people in the comments that that were saying some negative things or something. And I occasionally do a video and and not that I'm complaining at all, but I'll do some random average video about something and I'll get a, you know, a thumbs down on one of my videos and I'm like, what what what did I say that was so bad? Okay. May maybe maybe the person didn't quite like the content or the the cards I showed off or something, but I mean really was it that bad of a video or you know someone will, you know, occasionally, not very often.

[00:25:23]I I'm I'm fortunate that a lot of the people who comment on my videos are are great commenters, have great comments, uh great things to say. So, I I thank you uh for for all of those positive uh comments. Uh but there's an occasional one that that'll throw in some jab or or uh I forget which one it was uh what video it was, but someone said, "Sorry, your video was boring." Okay. Okay. I get it. I'm not always the the the biggest entertainer out there on on YouTube. But I I I've been talking enough here, so I'm going to wrap things up. But again, well, I I would love to know in the comments what are your thoughts about the the negativity that's out there um related to the hobby, but if you want to expand it beyond the hobby, that that's fine. Is the negativity getting you down? How are you trying to avoid the negativity that's out there? Is it starting to ruin the enjoyment of the hobby for you? uh or are you finding that the positives of social media um are outweighing the negatives that you see out there? That's all I have for you. So until next time, thanks for watching.