Influencers

[Terran Terran]

Why all the hate? We’re adults capable of intelligent decisions on our own. Unlike the commercials of past years that bombarded us with nonsense, influencers demonstrate new products in a media that we as consumers can easily ignore.  There’s also a lot of transparency. We see the broken tent poles, the wet out rain coats. It’s no longer Fred and Wilma sitting around touting that “Winston tastes good” without feedback.  We know better.  Sure influencers make money. Hopefully. It is a job, much like any other. We all want to put food on the table. Use common sense. Be smart.

[Dan]

… we as consumers can easily ignore …

Maybe I’m an old fogey, but I guess that’s what I have been doing, since I’m not really aware of any backpacking influencers, unless they are here on this forum. I’ve followed a few links from this forum to YouTube videos, and I have found them all to be superficial and silly. Just my opinion.

I am aware that influencers exist in other areas, of course, including on topics that interest me (e.g. other hobbies). I don’t hate them, but I have never found any that I find worth watching (i.e. entertaining or credible). In general, I find community forums to be much more helpful.

Maybe there are some good influencers out there, but given my casual experiences with the videos I’ve seen, I don’t have the motivation to seek them out, or even follow up on recommendations. Just not worth my time, IMO.

[Brad Rogers]

I’ve just come to realize that most everything you see on YouTube or Instagram is from people that are sponsored or got X-gear for free, etc. so take it with a grain of salt.  I work with a guy who’s wife is a fashion influencer on Instagram and she makes well over six figures  – she has contracts with various companies to make so many posts per months about their products – sometimes she gets to choose and sometimes they choose what they want her to post on.  It’s a different industry, but similar things go on in the backpacking/outdoor industry as well.   That doesn’t mean I hate influencers – they provide some great content that they probably otherwise wouldn’t be able to produce.   For example – this is certainly transparent as it’s the companies themselves but I’ve been looking at the Uinta Highline Trail and there are two awesome videos of the trip – one done by Z-Packs and another done by Outdoor Vitals – both of those videos are meticulously done, but obviously all the gear they are using is from their respective companies.  Other “sponsored” hikers are a little harder to discern what gear they are being paid to use and which gear they chose themselves so just realize that when watching content.

I mean this is nothing really new as even back when Andrew Skurka was doing his epic trips if you looked at his gear list he obviously had a lot of Golite gear whom he was somewhat affiliated with and I don’t think he was using it so much as he got paid too – rather I think he got it for free and was making everything work on a shoestring budget.

Like I said, I appreciate good content and this content is only possible by people being able to do this as a living – sure there are people that will spend hours and hours taking and editing videos on the side, but that gets really hard when it’s not your day job.    My co-workers fashion influencer wife treats it like a full time job.  She spends 30-40 hours a week setting up her work and has to put out new content daily.  She also has two people that work for her answering peoples comments (which to me is a little shady as they are answering as her – when they are really paid) because she gets paid more for interactions with people.

[David D]

I drew the line when one Canadian youtuber pushed a potentially unsafe practice, and didn’t respond to posts or PMs asking to address this.

I notice the change when they make this their main gig and, for some, a sense of financial insecurity leads them to present some irresponsible material.

 

[Terran Terran]

I could say the same thing about many professions. Most folks are really out for themselves or their families and close friends. Not to be jaded. Most folks act pretty decently in spite of it. They strive to be good.  I find videos and reviews helpful. You have to weed through them. I enjoy learning about new products. I find it useful. I find videos of a new tent withstanding high winds above tree line pretty impressive. Then I ask myself how often I’m going to be camping in high winds above tree line. Some do.  You have to be realistic.

[George H]

David D, you don’t have to hang the person out to dry but I’m just curious what the practice was and in which way it was unsafe?

[David D]

George, I didn’t want to drag in the drama of the specifics, that would be unfair to this place.

A lot of backpacking youtubers are great.  HikingGuy, Kane and GearSkeptic are worth supporting.  They don’t act like “Influencers”, just genuinely trying to help (and learn!)

[Paul Wagner]

I’m going to register a different kind of comment here.  I don’t watch influencers primarily because I find watching videos a very poor way to get good information. I can read far faster than anyone can talk, and can skip forward past any section that I find uninteresting–including the “exciting” or long and uninteresting introductions often aimed at either selling themselves or something else.

I don’t hold any of the above against influencers on any emotional level, I just don’t find any influencers rewarding in terms of the amount of time it takes to get the information they impart.

 

[Jerry Adams]

what I hate more than regular videos, is when they disable the fast forward button so you have to watch every second from the beginning

[Terran Terran]

Clickbait. Often videos are the only reviews you get.  I look for the transcripts. Scroll down to what I’m looking for. I don’t like the algorithms. They reinforce my biases. I’ll see the same product over and over on different videos or I find myself having to explain why every other video is Wildbeare.

[Bill in Roswell]

Paul, I agree that reading is faster and more for information. But the fact is so many new gear reviews are only on YouTube for many months before anything written is published. YouTube makes it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for. To find what I want to read typically requires several searches, and then the first several are sponsored spots. I only watch YouTube reviews from hikers who are transparent about sponsorship, whether a gear loan for review, or gear given to the reviewer.

[Jerry Adams]

Yeah tt – I hate when it reinforces my biases

Youtube is great if you want to figure out some home project.  Like, to caulk a corner, you put sandpaper on both sides of an edge, and then sand off the spout so it’s at a right angle.  Then, you can more easily get caulk evenly along the inside corner edge

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

A slightly different perspective. With small companies, if they release a new product, it can be hard to get any traction.  People believe that the supplied data/information from the manufacture is biased.  An influencer (I prefer to call a reviewer), has a much larger viewership base and can help bring a new product to light.  Many times, the exposure is 10X to 100X that of the original organic posting.

Yes, I agree that there are a lot of flakes out there just looking for sponsorship or free gear.  As with anything, you have to sort the wheat from the chaff.  I am sure that many of you out there have influencers that you trust as well as those that you avoid.  My 2 cents.

[Terran Terran]

“Gear critics”? I realized after posting that the term “influencers” presents kind of a negative image though it isn’t always.
YouTube is handy when working on a 1960 D-17 Allis Chalmers or a 25 year old truck.

[Adrian Griffin]

Why is the air always still when the influencers are cooking? They all (or most of them) fire up a BRS-3000T with no windshield or any sort of windbreak. Even it the slightest breeze, this rig will will gobble gas, or fail to reach a boil. How do they do it?

[Terran Terran]

Why are they always cooking?

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Why is the air always still when the influencers are cooking?

So true.  That being said, they are trying to make a video.  And believe me, even with the slightest breeze, the microphones will get drowned out by wind noise.  My 2 cents.

[Adrian Griffin]

So, it’s selection bias. If there’s a breeze, they don’t film a segment when they’re setting up to cook.

[Dan]

YouTube is handy when working on a 1960 D-17 Allis Chalmers or a 25 year old truck.

Also, there are some good videos for repairing appliances.

[Brad W]

It’s easy to spot the shills, hiking actors, phonies and unsubscribe or hit ‘not interested’. Lots of entertaining, useful channels that relate to hiking and or gear yet don’t constantly sell products.

As for the cooking-having a cooking segment in their videos boost views and attention. That is why any creator who studies their algorithm metric includes it.

[sbennett3705]

It’s no coincidence that certain YouTubers extoll the same products at about the same time. It’s so transparently obvious they are part of a coordinated marketing campaign. For this reason I boycott certain pad pumps, mapping apps, quilts, tents and shopping sites. Shout out to HikingGuy who accepts ZERO sponsor compensation.

[Terran Terran]

I like Hiking Guy.

Hiking Guy earns commission on tagged products.

It’s in the description.

HG

[sbennett3705]

Yes, I believe HikingGuy is not paid unless someone actually transacts using one of his sponsored sites. He indicates he buys his own samples, tests them, then either resells or donates them. Different from the shills that are supplied free goods with a talking-points script and paid up front

I guess what bothers me the most is the disingenuous way the shills promote the latest fad items. A pad pump is convenient, but not life changing!

[HkNewman]

Don’t care one way or another if they’re “legal” and not causing harm.. which in outdoor spaces tends to be LNT (for public lands anyways).
Actually saw one w/a dog which I met (and camped with) earlier in the season get hounded (pun intended) off a western trail, and hounded off said social media, after posting an illegal campfire.  The guy had other issues too regarding preparedness, but also thinking leads to self-selection.  Most posting online successfully have some sort of plan, so maybe that helps others not be so clueless on their first hikes.  Who knows.

I’m a sucker for good landscape photos, maybe seeing an action photo, and a “make camp photo” every now and then .. to prove they didn’t pack up to the nearest Hilton too often.  Then I look at the age.  Met a photo contractor who was backpacking w/photo gear and testing for one of the gear companies that made it big that he did catalog shoots for.  Being 20-something he was making insane daily mileages w/luxurious lightweight gear (most DCF/DCF Hybrid) mostly because he was 20-something and still able to be a high mileage/speed pack mule.  Doesn’t really relate to my experience (older, beat up cartilage).

I’ll tend to watch those w/the really UL lists that use “fastpack” style packs due to my own hip pain (no hipbelts allowed).   Tends to be a small list.

 

[Terran Terran]

You sign up on Amazon as an affiliate. Every link leads to Amazon or REI. I don’t fault him. I first became aware of him through his website when I was hiking around San Gorgonio and San Jacinto. I recently met Steven Smith. Defiantly clickbait. Still good information. Very professional and genuine.
I resisted buying a pump. Then I realized it was roughly the same weight as my Schnoozle. I never considered the Schnoozle duel use. Not a life changer, but a bit easier. I still wouldn’t trust it on a multi day trip.

Cactus to Clouds

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