Who to trust?
When I first entered the hobby, it was anyone with a higher post count and more expensive gear who would bother answering unsolicited private messages. Especially if they didn't talk down to me like they were delivering wisdom from the mountaintop.
Then it was "reviewers" that had followings - megathreads that reached tens or hundreds of pages. They tended to have splashy features on forum home pages and had numbered rankings. When they switched something to #1, it instantly made the manufacturer of that product thousands of dollars. They were big for a reason, right?
Then it was the counter movement to these cults of personality. Anything the wonderbread mainstream guys like was actually junk. Try the stuff no one's heard, its so much better.
Then it was those who eschewed "I like this better" reviews altogether. They were more obsessed with measurements than Miss America contestants and wanted to see teardown pics before products were even built.
Then it was those with similar interests to mine. Mention an artist I'm into, make an in-joke about the Hitchhiker's Guide, connect with me on a personal level and make me feel reviewer and reader have a connection.
Then it was those who had a combination of the previous elements I had looked for: experience, cachet, a bit of a cult built about themselves but they put themselves down enough to make me think it was all just in fun, who embraced measurements without making a shrine to them, and were fun to talk to.
Then it was just myself that I trusted.
Then I realized I couldn't trust myself.
Thus chastened, I came back onto the forums a humbler man. Who was I not to trust others if I was not worthy of trust myself? Heck, I'd trust anyone with a higher post count and more expensive gear who would bother answering unsolicited private messages...