I need y'all quick like for some pros and cons talk!

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Hey gang quick and late request but I'm speaking at the WaterBox Family Reunion tomorrow and putting the finishing touches on my topic! What I need is for you to answer me this.

What are some pros and cons to using social media for reefing?

Like how does it hurt or help the hobby and the industry?

Social media includes forums, FB, YouTube, Instagram etc.

List as many as you can think of.

Thanks!

 

[reeferfoxx]

Pros - plethora of information and helpful people.

Cons - sponsored reviews, self centered egotistical negativity, and lack of being open minded for personal monetization. My way or the highway mentality.

Thats my quick pro and con.

 

[Raege]

For myself the pros are availability of information the con is the quality and correctness of info you can find. I love the forums as if you find the right community with the right culture you get good info and a real idea of what’s involved in the hobby good and bad. Some social outlets you will get pics of beautiful tanks and healthy fish but no real idea of the commitment needed to achieve the same results .
I think another negative depends on target audience some old farts like me gave up on fb and don’t get into Instagram and such and focus primarily on forums,
I wonder how many prospective reefers find a forum or other social media type run into someone abrasive or with bad info who decide not to pursue the hobby.

 

[DeepBlueSeaV1]

CON: To many novices giving advice.

PRO: Many experienced reefers giving advice.

 

[Mical]

I agree w/ @DeepBlueSeaV1 - the "parroting" from novices is painful to read/listen to.

 

[PatW]

You tube can be a wonderful resource. For example, say that you are thinking of getting a test kit. There are you tube videos on nearly all of them. The videos give you a pretty good idea of how the kits work.

And there are a number of venders who put out really decent informational videos: bulk reef supply and vivid aquariums to name two.

And there are people who put out informational videos on the hobby who do a really good job.

 

[LadyMac]

For me the pro is community. It’s a great place to make some friends and share in the common interests. The con would have to be the misinformation and how easily it can spread and become gospel throughout the hobby.

 

[Peace River]

Good luck with your talk in the Keys @rehtree! We’re cheering for you!

Here are a few quick thoughts - Social media provides a lot of information that unfortunately is usually unorganized, contradictory, and anecdotal (hard to verify). Additionally, the expertise of the person and the accuracy of the person are not always easy to quickly determine, however having a community (like R2R) is beneficial and allows some level of vetting. Educational information like 52-weeks-of-reefing from BRS that is on social media (and other similar content) is helpful, however IMO there is still a huge need for additional quality educational/informational/reference content. For example, if someone wants to learn about all of the different major types of corals, their general care, and other key details, what concise source can they use? We have largely moved away from books because social media is more timely, but social media can be more difficult to parse.

 

[LadyMac]

Oh also, pictures. Lots and lots of pictures! They make me happy lol.

 

[Mtb_reefer]

I think it depends on the platform. Here on r2r everyone for the most part is pretty helpful open and understanding but when you include people outside of the hobby like on Facebook or something you may end up with opinions from people who don’t really understand us as hobbyists.

 

[User1]

What are some pros and cons to using social media for reefing?

Pro:
Sharing of knowledge
Instant feedback in most cases
Years of experience
World Wide

Cons:
Personal bias
Anecdotal evidence
Noise

Like how does it hurt or help the hobby and the industry?

Onus is on the hobbyist to vet the information and use as they see fit.

 

[Glott3133]

For me because I'm new to reefing:
The Pros - a lot of good information, even if inaccurate there is someone there to give alternate advise.
Good pics.
Most reefers take pride and like to show their work.

Cons - some topics are just noise to me.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Hey gang quick and late request but I'm speaking at the WaterBox Family Reunion tomorrow and putting the finishing touches on my topic! What I need is for you to answer me this.

What are some pros and cons to using social media for reefing?

Like how does it hurt or help the hobby and the industry?

Social media includes forums, FB, YouTube, Instagram etc.

List as many as you can think of.

Thanks!

I thought this was the day you are going to tear down your tank and that's it, call it quits. I want the equipment......Hahaha

 

[ReeferSteve]

Pros:
Tons of helpful and quick info
Unlimited amount of honest input on products and techniques
Sense of community (R2R especially

Cons:
Closed minded that are stuck in their ways and won’t hear it any other way
Rude and negative input that is not needed or warranted
Lots of medicine men out there selling untested and empty promises

I think the biggest issue is all the products that are offered that are not needed. Newcomers to the hobby are really overwhelmed by all of it and the majority is just not needed. This hobby is much simpler when you allow yourself to realize you don’t need 100 products to maintain a beautiful and healthy reef system

 

[AZMSGT]

Pros
Lots of great information on FB, Forums, Youtube, etc.

Cons
Lots of misinformation on FB, Forums, Youtube, etc.

The user really needs to look at everything with a grain of salt. Basically, we all need to do our do diligence to be sure the info we are getting is going to help us.

 

[lilgrounchuck]

Pros: there is a wealth of searchable knowledge right at your fingertips. Anything you can think to ask has likely been asked and answered before. If you’re looking for visual representation on a topic, YouTube and photo hosting sites can provide it in spades. It helps remove the need to spend hours in a library, going through card catalogs to maybe find a book that has what you’re looking for, then going home and guessing your way through something. With all of these platforms we can immediately benefit from the direct experience of others (this is really in general, not just this this hobby).

Cons: for every one productive, helpful person on the internet you’ll likely encounter five that want nothing more than to sew discord. Misinformation is as readily available as good information. It can become a very toxic environment very fast.

The middle: You can see the good and the bad in spades and make a judgement on your own, taking in information at a rate never before seen in human history, and all at the click of the button.

 

[Auquanut]

For someone like me that doesn't use a lot of different forms of social media, it goes without saying that R2R is the premier resource for advice and varying views on any given topic.

As someone who has learned a lot throughout the years, I've found that YouTube can be as dangerous or even more so than shooting from the hip. While there is a lot of great information out there, it seems that anyone that wants to start a YouTube channel can look like an expert while giving some awful and potentially fatal advice.

Social media as a whole has the potential to be the greatest gift to the modern reefer as people are able to share experiences, failures and successes, and discuss issues that effect us all.

The flip side is that the new or inexperienced reefer is inundated with opinions and guidance that may or may not be useful, and worst case could force a potentially life long reefer out of the hobby.

I can't imagine what it would take to guide the less experienced reefer toward the more reputable sources of information when they first start surfing the web for information. I'll leave that for the bigger brains.

Bottom line: In my unqualified opinion, social media has made huge strides toward bringing reefers together and progressing the success and enjoyment of the hobby as a whole. As far as what can be done to steer people toward the most competent sources of information? I'm stumped.

 

[WVNed]

My biggest problem is incorrect information looks the same as good information on a web page.
The internet runs on charisma and not quality of experience.

 

[cancun]

LOL! Everyone took my ideas! He he!!!! I totally agree with everyone's thoughts.... I think YouTube is great for how to videos or info on test kits, tank ideas etc. I love R2R with the wonderful people on here!

Cons are a lot of closed minded people who won't consider the possibility that there are more than one way to do things.

I think it is great to hear a newbie talk about how they made this mistake and what they learned from it because it's so important to learn from our mistakes the first time around in this hobby. With that said I think that when you are just starting out it is better to ask questions and listen, than to try and give advice because you heard it in your LFS.

I would love to hear your talk @revhtree....what kinds of topics are going to be discussed?

 

[lilgrounchuck]

For someone like me that doesn't use a lot of different forms of social media, it goes without saying that R2R is the premier resource for advice and varying views on any given topic.

As someone who has learned a lot throughout the years, I've found that YouTube can be as dangerous or even more so than shooting from the hip. While there is a lot of great information out there, it seems that anyone that wants to start a YouTube channel can look like an expert while giving some awful and potentially fatal advice.

Social media as a whole has the potential to be the greatest gift to the modern reefer as people are able to share experiences, failures and successes, and discuss issues that effect us all.

The flip side is that the new or inexperienced reefer is inundated with opinions and guidance that may or may not be useful, and worst case could force a potentially life long reefer out of the hobby.

I can't imagine what it would take to guide the less experienced reefer toward the more reputable sources of information when they first start surfing the web for information. I'll leave that for the bigger brains.

Bottom line: In my unqualified opinion, social media has made huge strides toward bringing reefers together and progressing the success and enjoyment of the hobby as a whole. As far as what can be done to steer people toward the most competent sources of information? I'm stumped.

I think this might be a great divider between generations, but not the normal ones we hear. Instead, it’s those of us that had to get down with Dewey decimal system to find about 50 books, read them all, and gain about two paragraphs on what you actually wanted, and those that had the modern internet from the get-go. The latter seems more apt to jump to conclusions based on a single sentence in a partial clip of something that was already taken completely out of context.