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Social Media

I knew the second I saw the tide pod “challenge” and other similar “challenges” on social media we were doomed as a society. The only reason I have a Facebook profile is for Facebook marketplace and Nose to the Ground and that’s it.
 
GCTerpfan said:
I listened to part of the Meateater episode on the way home. I'm only part of the way through the Steve/Matt argument but what a load of BS. While I agree that there are some negative side effects of social media on hunting. I can't agree with Matt when his entire premise is simply that social media increases the number of hunters in the woods and "he" doesn't want more hunters because it's too crowded. When your argument is based entirely on selfishness, I can't get on board.

I know of a lot of new hunters on this forum, I've seen how excited they are when they are retelling their story on this site and can see how proud they are of their accomplishments in the pics they post. For Matt to want to take that away from new hunters simply because he wants more area to himself shows how much he sucks.

He also has zero self awareness when he is yelling "who are you to decide we need more hunters" at Steve. Well, Matt. Who are you to decide we don't?

And this is coming from a 40 yr old who doesn't have any social media accounts (beside this forum) and has somewhat tongue in cheek told several people that social media might cause the end of society. But you know what what hurts society even more? Selfishness. Which is on full display by Matt in that episode.
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He's being totally hypocritical himself too. Who knows, it could all be a ploy to conjure up more views and followers for his brother.

I'm all about getting new hunters into the mix and I'd have to say along with my dad and watching old episodes of Buckmasters and all the other old corny hunting shows, is probably part of the reason I hunt as much as I do.

I do agree with his points that some people hunt for the wrong reasons (social media likes) and that was the idea I can respect. But then again who doesn't like positive reinforcement for a job well done?

I'd assume there is a fair amount of jealousy in that family and it would be entertaining to be a fly on the wall around Christmas.
 
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Jtaylor said:
I'd assume there is a fair amount of jealousy in that family and it would be entertaining to be a fly on the wall around Christmas.
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That's an angle I hadn't considered. There is definitely a lot of anymosity, and it all seemed one direction. To call your brother and his entire staff liars repeatedly on a podcast is a little much.
 
GCTerpfan said:
I listened to part of the Meateater episode on the way home. I'm only part of the way through the Steve/Matt argument but what a load of BS. While I agree that there are some negative side effects of social media on hunting. I can't agree with Matt when his entire premise is simply that social media increases the number of hunters in the woods and "he" doesn't want more hunters because it's too crowded. When your argument is based entirely on selfishness, I can't get on board.

I know of a lot of new hunters on this forum, I've seen how excited they are when they are retelling their story on this site and can see how proud they are of their accomplishments in the pics they post. For Matt to want to take that away from new hunters simply because he wants more area to himself shows how much he sucks.

He also has zero self awareness when he is yelling "who are you to decide we need more hunters" at Steve. Well, Matt. Who are you to decide we don't?

And this is coming from a 40 yr old who doesn't have any social media accounts (beside this forum) and has somewhat tongue in cheek told several people that social media might cause the end of society. But you know what what hurts society even more? Selfishness. Which is on full display by Matt in that episode.
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I didn’t listen to the episode, but if overcrowding in the woods is the impetus for his argument, I begin to scratch my head. I know my corner of the world is not everywhere, but Pennsylvania recently had to change its long standing no-Sunday policies to stop a nearly decade long consecutive annual decline in license sales. Granted, in my county, it’s an unsafe orange army shooting gallery come rifle season. But in the rest of state, you can find secluded places. Maybe other states differ from PA or what I’ve seen, but on the whole I don’t agree that hunting is becoming overwhelmingly popular. Despite social media, marketing, and influencers, I’d even suggest it’s going the other way.
 
Funny story this thread reminded me of. I walked into the auto parts store a couple years ago and there was a man that was probably close to 80 yrs old standing at the counter. As I approach, I hear him say that "cell phones are ruining society" he goes on to explain to all of us that he was at a restaurant the night before and next to him was a table with two parent and three kids of various age. They were all sitting at the table texting on their phones. He then says "Not a single one of them were talking to each other" and then he throws up his hands and says " or who the h*** knows, maybe they were!" :tearsofjoy:
 
GCTerpfan said:
That's an angle I hadn't considered. There is definitely a lot of anymosity, and it all seemed one direction. To call your brother and his entire staff liars repeatedly on a podcast is a little much.
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His arguments cane through well enough on the FRA essay but now that I’ve listened to him talk about it, it was cringey! Seems like a rather adversarial position to take. Now I am biased towards Meateater and he was outnumbered so could be he was feeling pressure, but he came off as a jerk.
 
I think Matt's argument about people only showing their kills and not their misses is just social media in general. It's essentially a highlight reel of people's lives. They don't necessarily post about the hard times. So hunting on YouTube and social media is a bit misleading that way. Not everyone can hunt like THP does but people will compare themselves to them. They don't have 9-5 normal jobs. So they don't have to worry about PTO, vacation days, etc. I think Warb and Greg are the only two that are married and Warb has a couple of step kids. They also have several people scouting an area for deer/elk/turkeys.
I agree that some people hunt for the wrong reasons because of social media. Especially the huntresses that post bikini pictures and ass shots to push merchandise. Not saying I'm against female hunters. I wish I could get my wife into it.
I agree partially with his argument about people posting dead animals. Some people are just sharing their kill with friends and family. Not necessarily just for likes. But when they have all of their sponsored products laid out with the deer, that's kind of gross.
He seemed to give Steve a lot of grief about Meateater. I think it's one of the more tasteful hunting shows out there. He's also on an episode of Blood Origins and complains about Rogan and says he's not really a hunter because he hunts on private ranches. I get that it's easier and most people can't afford to do that, but he's still putting in work and killing the animal himself. He also puts in a lot more practice with his bow than your average hunter.
I've tried to distance myself further and further from social media. I'd also like to use forums more purposefully and not just for entertainment.

I liked Matt's comment about putting down your phone and shooting your bow. Something I could definitely benefit from.
 
I’m not seeing a link to Matt’s article above. This one is probably worthy of its own thread.

freerangeamerican.us

Opinion: Unfollowing Hunting Social Media Will Make Hunting Better

Matt Rinella explains why he thinks hunters should shun social media and only share hunting photos with loved ones and IRL friends.
freerangeamerican.us freerangeamerican.us


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
weekender21 said:
I’m not seeing a link to Matt’s article above. This one is probably worthy of its own thread.

freerangeamerican.us

Opinion: Unfollowing Hunting Social Media Will Make Hunting Better

Matt Rinella explains why he thinks hunters should shun social media and only share hunting photos with loved ones and IRL friends.
freerangeamerican.us freerangeamerican.us


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I can’t get there completely b/c I question his motivation platform….. but a lot of what he said has merit if you throw out the why is he doing it. If his last name wasn’t what it is would anyone be talking about it. I deleted instagram for exactly these reasons & I just don’t care enough about other peoples lives so there’s that. I think the negatives of social media far outweigh the positives.
 
weekender21 said:
I’m not seeing a link to Matt’s article above. This one is probably worthy of its own thread.

freerangeamerican.us

Opinion: Unfollowing Hunting Social Media Will Make Hunting Better

Matt Rinella explains why he thinks hunters should shun social media and only share hunting photos with loved ones and IRL friends.
freerangeamerican.us freerangeamerican.us


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I agree with many of Matt's points in the article. I don't like people who kill animals and then post them solely for internet likes and/or to increase their 'brand'. I also dislike "influencers" who kill animals to sell products (although this has been happening long before social media) or who try to portray the hunt as some mobile hunting chess match while trying not to show the cornpile they're hunting over on the video. Many of these reasons are why I don't have social media beyond this site.

The difference between Matt and I is that I think the effects social media is having on hunting are negative because it creates an unrealistic goal for new hunters. Matt doesn't want new hunters and seems to only be concerned with the fact he has less area to hunt to himself. I also think he is drastically overestimating the number of people in the woods hunting for the wrong reasons. He said in the podcast that he estimates 25% of hunters (and he said it could be more) are hunting solely to increase their social media following. I think that number is laughably high but, at least he admits he has no idea what the true number is or how he came to that conclusion.

I really wish I had more time to dig into his article and his research because I think someone could tear it apart pretty easy. For instance he interviewed 8 people about their motivations for posting on social media. What a huge sample size, and I'm sure he tried to pick a representative sample and not 8 people that proved his point. :rolleyes:

Another thing that jumped out at me in the article was this statement: "Traditional hunters believe wild game is a precious resource, and we harvest only what we need to eat between seasons, thereby increasing the chances for other hunters to take an animal." I don't disagree with this statement and think the vast majority of hunters do this. The problem is he is advocating that their should be fewer hunters in the woods and many States already have problems effectively managing their animal populations. For instance parts of MD basically have unlimited doe tags because of overpopulation.

I acknowledge that hunter density, # of available tags, etc. are different out west but, instead of trying to cut the number of hunters in half which is what he advocated for on the podcast he should be focusing his efforts on creating more access opportunities for the hunters we currently have. Which by the way he had no real answer for what happens to wildlife funding when you cut the numbers in half. Not to mention that most States out west have some type of tag/lottery system that does limit the number of hunters in the woods. He just doesn't like that his odds are decreased.

Ultimately, in general, I'm anti-social media but, I'm also anti-I want more area to myself at the possible expense of our sport for future generations.
 
Just finished the podcast, and boy did Matt come off as a grumpy old man who doesn’t want to share the PUBLIC land he hunts. I kept wanting someone to reframe his argument as: “I don’t want other people to find out about and use the public resources they are equally entitled to use, and I’m blaming my brother and his friends for them knowing about it and showing up.”
25% of people hunt just for likes? Laughable. Killing a “brag-worthy” animal is such a hard freakin way to get social media approval; there is no way the number is close to that high.
I’m no fan of social media OR overcrowding either, but to blame overcrowding of hunting spots on “influencers” feels like comically misplaced ire to me.
 
Is Matt greedy? Idk, maybe, but I am kind of in the Gordo Gekko camp there. I don't want to share my hunting spots any more than I want to share my wife and I have no problem admitting as much. I like what he's putting down so far.
 
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