THE CASE FOR GEOTAGGING By John Porter, 11-year member
John's two Labrador retrievers at Black Lake. Photo by John Porter.
I
took two years away from social media for a much-needed cleanse several years ago. Before going off the grid, I posted three times a day, intending to gain traction for my hiking blog. But as much as I enjoyed beautiful landscape photos, I found I needed a break from seeing evasive posts from the self-proclaimed "influencers" or "inspirers" with a large following on Instagram and Facebook. Instead of tagging their location in the photo (or geotagging), they would often input phrases like "Keeping Washington beautiful," "Opt outside responsibly," or "Somewhere in Washington State." The argument is that by refraining from geotagging an image, we decrease the likelihood that the particular location will become heavily visited and thus damaged. I have found this practice to be disingenuous and a form of gatekeeping. It would be phony of me to encourage others to explore the outdoors and then turn around and withhold information as I post. If we cared about the environment 100%, we wouldn't have visited those places in the first place. Boasting epic trip photos to collect more followers and likes does nothing to forward environmental preservation or protection. We are anything but inspiring when we behave this way. Social media users intend to keep others from photographing that same epic spot, and what they're saying (or implying) is, "feel free to explore, but don't visit the places where I and only a select few have."
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mountaineer | summer 2022
Environmental impact Geotagging or sharing information doesn't suggest that we care less about the environment. Not unless we're unwilling to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume they won't uphold LNT principles when they go to these beautiful places. In my experience, people who are willing to go off the beaten path to those hard-to-reach places are responsible individuals who care about the environment. Instead of allowing people to risk their lives without sufficient information, we should instead provide them with the data needed and educate them when they reach out. As a community, we should be about sharing the earth's beauty, not keeping it to ourselves. Let's give others the same experiences we've had the privilege to enjoy.
Offering the benefit of the doubt Nowadays, a quick online search can yield plenty of information, including route descriptions. I usually find what I need online or through personal connections. Going to remote places in the Cascades, I've also relied on those brave souls who were generous enough to share their experiences in detail. If it weren't for their first-hand knowledge, most of us likely wouldn't have succeeded on our own. Because my research experiences have mainly been positive, I've learned to pay it forward through GPS tracks, post content, or hashtags on my social media posts long ago.
