🛒 Where to Get Shopping Advice
As Spring Festival approaches, purchasing clothes and restocking daily necessities has become more frequent. While consulting different platforms for shopping advice and making purchases, I suddenly found myself reflecting on why I make these choices.
This year, for phone and dash cam purchases, I researched comparison reviews on Zhihu but bought from Pinduoduo; for clothing, I referenced styles from Xiaohongshu, consulted ChatGPT for color and matching advice, then purchased from Taobao; for household items and small accessories, I went directly to Pinduoduo; even for snacks, I usually select brands on Pinduoduo before buying.
As someone who shops online infrequently, I don’t habitually browse shopping apps, which means the app feeds rarely match my current needs. Combining these factors, I don’t continuously scroll through shopping apps waiting for desired items to appear—I simply search using keywords. However, without the assistance of big data and lacking personal taste and knowledge in items like clothing, seeking third-party advice has become the norm. This might be one reason why platforms like Xiaohongshu exist.
I typically get shopping advice from Zhihu, Smzdm, and Xiaohongshu, mostly through actively searching for relevant information. My mother and brother differ—they frequently use Douyin, where short videos have a subtle influence and can closely match needs. Ultimately, attention and time investment affect final purchasing decisions. Where we get shopping advice has evolved into a question of where we invest our attention and time. Perhaps this is better—shopping is no longer just shopping; it has become more integrated into our daily lives.
📝 memos
Snow Country
The last time we had such heavy snow was probably during that disaster year of 2008! Waking up in the morning to a bright white view, I waited for my eyes to adjust to the glare. Then came a full day of heavy snow, with strong winds outside whirling snowflakes upward like willow catkins.
The bus service to the township was suspended, with about 10 centimeters of snow accumulated on vehicles and ice forming on the roads. We had to wait until the next day to return home. When setting out, we didn’t know how to clear the snow from the car, and later discovered it wouldn’t start—a kind stranger helped us realize the battery was depleted.
My parents mentioned that the last time they saw icicles hanging from the eaves was when they were children.
Continuing to Learn Driving
Half of my video app feed now consists of driving tutorials. However, my small city isn’t really suitable for new drivers. Traffic rules in small places are practically nominal—neither pedestrians nor vehicles reliably follow proper habits for signaling and driving.
Actually, I don’t enjoy driving, and having the whole family in the car makes it even harder to love.
This week, I also replaced the car’s dash cam.