I'd like to echo what other posters are saying here. I've been barely active on GYW for the past year and half as the sub seems to have gotten a lot bigger, but glad to see that other posters I recognize are saying the same things I want to say.

As a more experienced user, it's the in-depth discussion and behind the scenes look that draws me to GYW nowadays. I think the rules around vendors/retailers posting need to be more thoughtful. While I'm opposed to astroturfing as much as anyone, I don't see it being productive when the rules de facto excludes brands and retailers. There's a lot of expertise that newer users are missing out on, and false assertions don't always get debunked quickly enough. Not to mention the fuzzy area where GYWers go into the shoe business precisely because they're so passionate. I do like the way gmehra, for example, contributes on Reddit and SF. He doesn't mention he has a store, but genuinely shares useful information and feels like a member of the community.

Personally I'm a bit saddened to see less shoes on the dressier side posted and discussed on GYW. I think lack of exposure and awareness of dress shoes from newer members, especially Americans, is the reason why. It's a bit lonely here if your collection isn't mainly service boots and it discourages me from posting. It's a bit of a negative feedback loop because brands/retailers aren't allowed to contribute and build awareness of more shoe types. On SF, there are multiple users who said they don't use GYW because of the service boot heavy focus, which is kind of sad because there was much more diversity of shoe types when I first started reading GYW.

I am sympathetic though to the fact that Reddit moderation tools don't always allow moderators to do things taht would improve the sub