How Social Media Has Revolutionized Inline Skating

To be honest, aggressive inline skating has always been about video clips and photographs. From the very first 1994 video, Hoax: An In-Line Crime, it set the precedent that this was how we were going to communicate with each other. 

And remember that, Social Media and inline skating is all about communication. But back in the day, the only way for me to express how much I liked a certain trick was to buy a magazine, cut out the picture and put it on my wall of my bedroom. Now, if you want to communicate with a skater and tell him/her how much you like their tricks, just send them a message and they will probably respond.

This is instant gratification. Social Media, especially Instagram, has changed everything.  Now, we not only communicate through chat. But the videos themselves are communication and a way to showcase new tricks, style, equipment, etc.

Additionally, YouTube has brought thousands of "How-to"videos to phones around the world. This has basically cut your practice time in half and brought the learning curve way down. This has allowed easy entry points to new skaters everywhere. And as the equipment gets better so does the techniques. Nowadays, you can watch any kind of equipment video on YouTube that you want. In the past you needed to go to a shop and ask the one guy who worked there. Check this video out comparing old quad skates and new inline skates:

Moreover, new kinds of inline have become available to people around the world on social media such as slalom and speed skating.

Also, Aggressive Inline used to be dominated by men, but now there are a number of Insta accounts that are dedicated to only female skaters, see #bladies.

So, get out there, skate some cool street, record it and upload it to Instagram--join the skate communication revolution! 

Top Ten Ways that Social Media Has Revolutionized Skating

1. Ease of Communication
2. How-to Videos
3. Equipment Review Videos
4. Book of Grinds
5. Instagram Videos
6. Online Skate Games such as Game of Blade
7. Facebook (and Other Social Media) Skate Meet-up Groups
8. Online Shopping for Equipment
9. Blueprints for how to build your own obstacles (ramps, rails, etc)
10. Making all kinds of inline skating for all people available to everyone around the world.

Do you agree with this list? What am I forgetting? Please comment below.

Other Interesting Media:

Although this video is about Skateboarding, most if not all of the topics also apply to Inline-Skating.
https://www.redbull.com/sg-en/videos/how-social-media-has-changed-skateboarding

Book of Grinds: This website is a little slow to load but is by far the best for learning tricks.
http://www.skateyeg.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKWeKaoycJw. Want more revolution? Mushroom Blading are revolutionizing how people think of what inline skating should be. These guys are progressive but they also don't take themselves too seriously. You'll enjoy it, I promise.

Ricardo Lino's Wheel Addiction

Today, we're going to talk about Ricardo Lino and his social powerhouse of how-to's, reviews, general advice and rollerblading advocacy.  He's a self-promoted "wheel addict" and he owns a skate shop.  Let's take a look at his Youtube, Instagram and Facebook.

Let's take a look at his biggest draw card first his youtube page. He has over 50k subscribers and over 7 million views. Of course, his content of product reviews, how-to videos and much more is great, but what really sets him apart is his charisma in front of the camera. Most youtubers, will just plainly ask you to like and subscribe, but Lino goes even further and asks you that if you don't like the video and click the thumbs down, feel free to make a comment and tell me why. I found this to be a refreshing and honest approach to Vlogging.

While his youtube content is stellar I found his Facebook content to basically just be one big advertisement for his products, which is fine if that's what you are looking for.  There was not too much else of use here.

Finally his Instagram page, was also very good. I believe he keeps this up a bit more than his Facebook simply because this is where all the bladers are always posting clips.  There has always been a community of videographers supporting rollerblading and in these times, all the cool new videos have moved to Instagram. With it's one minute limit if you want to be in the scroll, it forces skaters to cut the fat and really get to the good stuff. Lino does a nice job of mixing his video and photo work here. It's definitely worth a scroll.

Let's go through a list of "shoulds" for all how to inline skate social media websites/conglomerates and see if Lino stacks up to the ideal.

1. How-to Videos ✓
2. Product Reviews ✓
3. Informational videos ✓
4. Product Links ✓
5. Cool skate videos from the street ✓
6. Cool Photos from the street ✓
7. Product Links  ✓
8. Diagrams and descriptions of skate tricks X
9. Professional-grade well-developed video content ✓
10. A fun, charismatic host/hostess for the content ✓

SCORE 9/10 

Overall, it's easy to see why Lino is so popular on social media. By far his best content is on Youtube as he brings his experience, education and personality to the forefront. His videos are informative, interesting and definitely worth a watch. Although he doesn't have trick descriptions or diagrams such as Riders.co or Book of Grinds, he still has a ton of great how-to content. Check him out for all your Powerblading needs.  See you again soon!

How to Street Skate

Hey, we're back with another post here on Powerblading. Just wanted to go through some tips for moving your inline skating from the park/rink into the urban environment of the streets.  There are a lot of things to contend with in the streets including changing terrain (cobblestone, concrete, dirt, uneven asphalt), lots of obstacles (both moving and non-moving) and of course, yourself.

Here are some tips to get you going on the streets, Powerblade away!

1. Master the basics in the park before you head out into the streets.

2. Stopping is of utmost importance so make sure you have a variety of stops in your repertoire to be used in a variety of situations.

3. Being able to turn in a small space is really important, so make sure you have it down perfect.

4. Make sure you have the correct stance in order to take on whatever comes at you next.

5. Be able to jump over obstacles, not just go around them, so you need to be able to pop, pump and ride over small obstacles for fun and for survival.

6. Lastly and maybe most importantly, make sure you have the right skates. A pair of aggressive skates with 58mm wheels are not gonna cut it.  Basically the bigger the wheels, the better, try for something over 100mm if you can.  But if you can't go that big between 68mm is probably the smallest you'd want to go with.

Have fun, be safe and get out there and ride.  Always make sure to employ all the correct safety gear.

The Best Powerbladers in the World

There are many great powerbladers out there.  But who are your favorite skaters?  In my opinion, the best skaters are a mix of power moves such as parkour, big airs and spins.  But the best riders mix these elements with more complex grinds and their own personal style.  For me, the best three powerbladers are listed below.



1. Greg

2. Mathieu

3. Sven

Who do you think is the best power blader in the world?

Please write your answer in the comments.

Check out this link for more information: https://www.inlineskates.com/What-is-Powerblading%3F/blog-4-27-2010,default,pg.html

What is powerblading?

Powerblading is a form of inline skating in an urban environment. It is a mix of recreational skating and aggressive skating (trick) skating. The emphasis is on speed, jumping, grinding and style. Additionally, some skaters have included elements of parkour and free running in their style. The skates themselves will have a hard aggressive style boot, solid frames both with and without a grinding H-block and large wheels of 72mm diameter or more.

Powerblading started as a form of transportation, but tricks were added when traveling from one place to another. As skate makers develop more advanced after-market frames, more grinds are possible (not just boot, but also H-block grinds). The larger wheels allows skaters to go faster, jump farther and travel to more places; thus, allowing for more creativity in the urban environment outside the skatepark.

Powerblading is different from regular urban skating as the aggressive hard boot allows for more tricks. While powerblading does still use the large wheels from urban skates, the style is a bit different.

Powerblading is the natural evolution of inline skating and will continue to push the sport forward creatively and involving the equipment.

Take a look at this video edit by Mathieu Ledoux for an example of Powerblading.