Thumbs Up “Like” option for BPL posts

[Greg Pehrson]

For me, online community is at its best when it’s connected to real-life community. I am a member of a few different forums that connect through Facebook, Signal, and proprietary software like BPL (one uses Discord too but I haven’t had the stomach to download that). For all of them, I find my opening statement to be true and, conversely, they are at their worst when a personal connection is absent but folks try to engage as if they had a baseline of trust established— debating, arguing, being sarcastic or “joking” with people they’ve never met in front of an online audience.
I have learned a ton from BPL about gear, gear making, skills and techniques, but, like Craig and David said, and Matthew affirmed, what I most appreciate are the real-life friendships that this site has facilitated for me.
I have never gone to a west coast GGG, and it’s been more than a decade since our Northeast GGG (we gotta get on that, East Coasters) but I made a friend there that I still have to this day. Another time, a BPLer responded to a question I had about winter hammocking with a PM, we discovered we lived an hour away from each other, and now they are a treasured hiking buddy and a dear friend.
One of the other forums I spoke about above, since it’s local, has facilitated community through occasional “field trips.” I’m also part of a couple of teachers’ groups at the national level, and they have regular Zoom calls where participants share their experiences and the facilitators and other participants reflect those experiences back in subsequent spaces (e.g. “I was really struck by Ana’s suggestion last month to do XYZ, so I tried it in my classroom and it was amazing! Did anybody else try it?”). I know people are Zoom-exhausted and I’m not necessarily suggesting it for BPL, but in this particular case, absent in-person gatherings, a direct celebration of each other’s expertise, and amplification of many voices, has created a sense of community across the country. I wonder if we could have live-streamed trip reports that people could respond to and affirm in real time? I know this is tricky with time zones and members around the world…
I want to appreciate Matthew for how seriously he centers inclusion in the way he shows up as a moderator.  I think the questions Wisner poses are critical ones for BPL (administrators and members) to wrestle with.

[Monte Masterson]

I’m posting simply to get the thread back in proper sequence. When I clicked on Greg’s post above from the Recent Forum Topics page it took me to the first post on page 2 (#26), when in fact Greg’s above post is actually on page 3 (should be # 51). I PM’ed Matthew and he said the problem is most likely due to the fact that he deleted a post earlier in the thread. Hope this post gets things back in order.

This post is shown on the Recent Forum Topics page as #51 when the second post on page 3 should be # 52.

[Greg Pehrson]

Thanks, Monte. I thought maybe I had broken the thread with my dissertation-length post.

[HkNewman]

seasoned

There’s experience on reddit too, but there’s no subdivisions to ultralight.  Here I can click on “gear” if wanting to browse the latest.

That also applies to the manufacturers.  There are more up and coming brands on reddit, but browsing their Instagram feeds for something I’d be interested in,… I’ve found, for example, where there’s a lighter material (mesh in this case) that would reduce weight but is labor intensive to sew at a profit (great for the MYOGer btw).

Many of the brands here have been around for 10 to 20 years, so retail buyers have to assume they’ve tested out new fabrics to reduce the weight.

On reddit, a viewer needs to go though all that clicking and reading just to get an answer “probably not for sale”.

Getting away from gear, when it comes to experiences, .. here there’s the SUL forum, readers know what SUL means etc.. There someone could be promoting a 3-4lb baseweight but also use a concrete picnic table as a shelter from a decent sprinkle (in fairly sunny California summer), still to thunderous applause (hitting the +1 icon).  Think here more readers would point that out.  The picnic table shelter ended  a great trip report on reddit, .. but I’ve also witnessed unprepared/lost hikers scramble to be under the 1 concrete picnic table when a freak thunderstorm hit, only to find it occupied.  Luckily a ranger drove by (Lolo Pass, Oregon) and rescued the lost dayhikers.

Think BPL would’ve pointed out the safety issue in a salty fashion moreso than reddit.  Just because something gets “likes” doesn’t mean it’s safe.

Maybe a “like” button on the trip reports forum – no “dislike”, but I’d say nowhere else.

Younger

We also tend to hear from the backpackers (thru-types, adventurer-types) who not only have a social media presence but bring their baseweights down so they can bring about a pound of camera gear, bigger batteries, etc.. A lot of younger hikers are actually  more into enjoying their hikes with more “indulgent” gear.  Then there’s those who treat hiking like a race. Actually set up a catfight in Reddit.  It’s not all sniffing daisies ..

[Author]

Posts