Opinions: Do you think social media has had a positive or negative impact on outdoor recreation in Colorado?

[XterraRob]

Since social media took off in 2012 along with the sense of validation it brings its users, nature has been no shortage of a victim in its wake.

Do you believe the net impact of social media has been positive or negative for outdoor recreation in Colorado(specifically for the mountains)?

This can include outdoor gear sales, LNT awareness, tax dollars towards recreation, pollution, real estate, traffic, everything.

[TomPierce]

My vote is both positive and negative, but overall I lean towards negative.

Positive: Allows those with similar interests to find each other and share information, connect. There's probably also some sharing of safety and LNT concepts that are good and more easily shared via social media.

Negative: I have mixed feelings about trip reports. Sure, I look at and comment on them too, but it's like candy in a nearby dish, hard not to sample. But I also think TR's are the death of true adventure and lead to trampling some areas that were better left alone. Not sure if I'll ever post a TR again.

Just my opinions.

-Tom

[FireOnTheMountain]

Whats the point of even opening your eyes in the morning without the prospect of spraying?

[Dave B]

Negatives far exceed any positives. That goes for everything social media touches, not just outdoor recreation in CO.

[XterraRob]

My vote is both positive and negative, but overall I lean towards negative.

Positive: Allows those with similar interests to find each other and share information, connect. There's probably also some sharing of safety and LNT concepts that are good and more easily shared via social media.

Negative: I have mixed feelings about trip reports. Sure, I look at and comment on them too, but it's like candy in a nearby dish, hard not to sample. But I also think TR's are the death of true adventure and lead to trampling some areas that were better left alone. Not sure if I'll ever post a TR again.

Just my opinions.

-Tom

I agree, it's a great way to meet people and link up for something that's enriching for the soul. Trip Reports have essentially become a gateway drug for a lot of people to experience the outdoors. They show you what's possible, which you can in-turn judge against your own capabilities, and maybe push yourself outside your comfort zone. Without them, I don't think very many people would be getting out as much. I know there are several routes that I wouldn't have wanted to go up without first researching the route through trip reports (LB-Blanca or Bells Traverse).

[Tornadoman]

Negatives far exceed any positives. That goes for everything social media touches, not just outdoor recreation in CO.

Sadly this seems to be accurate.

[CMHERSOM]

This is coming from the perspective of a relative newbie.

Pros:
-Helps introduce more people to recreation. I think this is a good thing, even if those who want the peaks to themselves would disagree
-Helps ease the initial learning curve
-Shows greater location/activity variety than word of mouth
-Increases safety education (now it's up to the individual to use that available info)
-Increases LNT awareness
-Allows for ample opportunities to talk with those who are more experienced/knowledgeable
-Makes organizing trips and finding hiking partners MUCH easier
-Allows people to share their stories on a wider platform
-Can lead to wider fundraising efforts
-Memes

Mehs:
-Creates trends that get old, but can be ignored
-Makes "alone-time" in nature harder to find

Cons:
-Definitely increases the volume of hikers, which can be bad for nature health, and clog trails
-Can embolden people who don't use or seek advice or follow rules (Including people who attempt trails/peaks they are NOT ready for)
-Brings in people who do dumb stuff for views
-Can foster some toxic aspects of community (Gate Keepers, elitists, general assholes)

Overall I think social media has a positive impact. People just need to be wise with how they use it, not be toxic, and follow LNT. I probably wouldn't be as involved with this activity without social media.

[oldschool]

It's not the social media that causes the issues for me. It's what people do once they get in the back country or front country, having used social media as an info platform. Social media has only made it quicker to get info out. Back in the day, with a slight stretch of the imagination, the newspaper was social media. Sure, it didn't reach as many people quickly as social media does but nonetheless things were introduced, spoken about, written about. Books also...info was out there. Certainly TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, FB, and other social media platforms feed the frenzy to be an "influencer" (whatever the f#*k that is) to get your s**t up on YouTube, and Instagram, and money can be made in doing so.

I see people out these days with none of the essentials, little to no training or experience, but by gosh and by golly they have a phone! That's all that's needed (at least to them). A phone is rescue, a first aid kit, and absolves them of accountability.

It's busy out there..oh well. The back country was never made for just "you and I and those that know..." so to speak. It's for everyone. Especially in the CO area and Denver, so many people have access. Oh well. Just like the ski resorts..s**t tons of people. Can't control that either. Find different days to go (I work weekends and get Tues and Wed off...crowds are so much smaller), go to less popular places, go further away from Denver or wherever you might be coming from. Change your behavior instead of wishing/wanting others to do so. I can't stop what's coming...that's vanity (line from the movie No Country for Old Men).

My .02 cents (with inflation that's about .03 cents maybe)

Mike

[cougar]

Positives as mentioned : finding people to do new adventures with, lots of good info, mostly on this site. Most TRs on here seem to be pretty good, especially as of late, alhough there's always exceptions. I don't think of this site as social media, but it likely contributed to seeding the popularity.

Negatives : lots of spraying on IG, FB, selfies, rubes and noobs not doing research, "conquering" the likes of Sherman. Overcrowding on the mountains resulting in access restrictions, new fees (Quandary), reservations, timed entry, etc. Social media and related outlets like Out There Colorado contribute to that, pandemic aside. Growing population contributes too, but it's all hyping over-hyped places. I think there's more of that on SM where people already have accounts and instantly share everything, vs. here which is something else to sign up for and not as much of a "look at me" audience.

I was just thinking of what the equivalent is in other states, for locals. Like California, which has its issues, but it has 14ers, mostly harder and more technical than CO, but it doesn't seem to be a populist thing there to check them off. Rainier too - maybe for the difficulty, or it's just one mountain. Sure there's other rec areas under stress, national parks and such, bucket-list things like PCT or JMT. Seems like the CO must-dos are mostly accessible to average people though. The one well known non-summit trek classic trek in CO is the Four Pass Loop, and it's considerably shorter. Then other photo-ops like Hanging Lake and Ice Lake Basin.

There's a lot of out-of-staters doing the CO 14ers, but I don't hear of many (Coloradans too) doing all the CA or WA ones to get the CONUS list. Sure there's a few, but seems to be a lot lower number. Due to logistics or technical difficulty? Is there a similar site for those? I could probably name just half or less of the CA 14ers off memory. The ultra-prominent peaks there are more interesting to me.

We also see safety and LNT issues in the mountains, due to this, sure SM has put a lot of inexperienced people out there. Rescues, recoveries, trash, abandoned dogs and children on mountains.

[FireOnTheMountain]

Pros:-Increases LNT awareness

And yet theres garbage all over the place in popular places and you know damn well the ones leaving all the trash are on the socials.

[SchralpTheGnar]

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[Andrew Russell]

Positives as mentioned : finding people to do new adventures with, lots of good info, mostly on this site. Most TRs on here seem to be pretty good, especially as of late, alhough there's always exceptions. I don't think of this site as social media, but it likely contributed to seeding the popularity.

Negatives : lots of spraying on IG, FB, selfies, rubes and noobs not doing research, "conquering" the likes of Sherman. Overcrowding on the mountains resulting in access restrictions, new fees (Quandary), reservations, timed entry, etc. Social media and related outlets like Out There Colorado contribute to that, pandemic aside. Growing population contributes too, but it's all hyping over-hyped places. I think there's more of that on SM where people already have accounts and instantly share everything, vs. here which is something else to sign up for and not as much of a "look at me" audience.

I was just thinking of what the equivalent is in other states, for locals. Like California, which has its issues, but it has 14ers, mostly harder and more technical than CO, but it doesn't seem to be a populist thing there to check them off. Rainier too - maybe for the difficulty, or it's just one mountain. Sure there's other rec areas under stress, national parks and such, bucket-list things like PCT or JMT. Seems like the CO must-dos are mostly accessible to average people though. The one well known non-summit trek classic trek in CO is the Four Pass Loop, and it's considerably shorter. Then other photo-ops like Hanging Lake and Ice Lake Basin.

There's a lot of out-of-staters doing the CO 14ers, but I don't hear of many (Coloradans too) doing all the CA or WA ones to get the CONUS list. Sure there's a few, but seems to be a lot lower number. Due to logistics or technical difficulty? Is there a similar site for those? I could probably name just half or less of the CA 14ers off memory. The ultra-prominent peaks there are more interesting to me.

We also see safety and LNT issues in the mountains, due to this, sure SM has put a lot of inexperienced people out there. Rescues, recoveries, trash, abandoned dogs and children on mountains.

I agree with what has been posted in this thread so far.
Positives for me would be meeting people like John, Steve, and many others to share experiences in the outdoors.
Personally, I don't think gatekeeping is a bad thing, especially on highly visible platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. If you really want to find out where a place is, you will do the research. Giving out locations, I feel, results in places being "loved to death". I also feel that the pandemic exacerbated this phenomenon, with more people than ever being drawn to outdoor recreation. The timed entry and reservation aspect is a huge reason I moved out of the Front Range, along with cost of living. I think another issue, as mentioned above, is how easy access is to most places in Colorado.