Looks like so many members have abandoned ETS. Same with many other forums. Question is if they changed their interests or just changed their favorite platforms from web to social media

My question is : do you know of any channels on Instagram or other social media that is of ETS caliber; discussing prep stuff in calm & friendly atmosphere ??

For myself, I’ve been finding that I prefer to spend less time on social media, and more time on fora. But that’s me, YMMV.

I check ETS several times daily. I almost never post because I 'm looking for information.

I wouldn't know - I don't use Facebook, never sent or looked at a twit or tweek or whatever they're called, and know nothing about Instagram other than there are people there who label themselves "influences" instead of getting a real job. And what the heck is Snapchat?

When I have spare time, I use it to read, play piano, or nap. You know, fun stuff, ... not hunched over a cellphone staring at a screen full of social-who-knows-what.

Nope, my mileage is the same. LOL . But locally and all over Earth , it seems forums are dying. I had no choice but have a look into social media. It depends where you look. Some of it is good, much of it is waste of time.

I was the last of my family, or actually whole neighborhood, to get into social media. But some of it is good. One example is a page started by a good guy from my home town. The page was focused on saving old pictures that contains much of our heritage. It encouraged many people to bring out their old collections that would have otherwise been buried with them, so to speak. Even being old myself, I saw pictures I never thought existed.

Also, it was an immense relief for me cuz I had old pictures and no one cared about them. I was worried where they would end up after me. So, I uploaded those pictures and wrote several articles explaining them. Many people appreciated the pictures and info. One guy almost came out of the screen hugging and kissing me , LOL, because I showed several pictures of his late uncle who had no kids and no one in their extended family had any pictures of him. He worked for my grandfather and we had several pictures of him working.

So, social media is not all that bad. In addition, I read a few words here and there that prepper families are using social media to get in touch in case of wide spread disasters.

I don't use facebook or any of those; my only social media is forums. True, activity here is somewhat sparse and the pace is glacial but I still love ETS! I visit several times per day. There are a few forums that seem to still be thriving. We're in a bit of a downturn but I feel an obituary is premature.

Same here — no facebook, no snapchat, no linkedin — glacial in not necessarily a bad thing.
When I’m out and about you can spot me because I’m the one not bent over looking at my smartphone. If I carry a phone at all it’s my dumbphone in airplane mode. If something comes up I can call out, otherwise I don’t want to be bothered. My smartphone stays on my desk receiving the occasional text and ready to tell me there are no voice mails

Well, here is my 2¢ on social media platforms

I tried snapchat maybe 2 years ago. I didn't like the idea of "rush to see the video before it is deleted". You tube had almost every video I need without the need to rush or else...
Plus , most material I saw was not really my type

So, I deleted Snapchat and still convinced it is not for me

Facebook and Twitter
I did try them for a while cuz I met great people in subjects that I liked, but eventually didn't have enough time for all

Instagram and Pinterest
I think they are cool. I believe some folks here may like them. Just focus your time on your favorite subjects like prepping, and forget the rest.

Try Pinterest, just for a while

LinkedIn.
This one is focused on professional folks like engineers and accountants ..etc. and people looking for jobs in those fields. Not really "social", at least in theory. I visit it a few times a week, since two of my kids are looking for jobs , plus I want to keep in touch with the professional world.

Smartphone...
My smartphone is used as dumb-phone ( call & messaging ) + personal assistant ( calculator, translating, unit conversion , and such. Social media stays at home in a mini-tablet. The screen of a smartphone is just not big enough for my poor eyes to read. Plus I don't want to be e-socializing all the time.

I'm very grateful for the community we have here on ETS. Thank you all for making it what it is.

Definately slower than the good ol days, but I think there are many of us still around who check in every few days, just to see what's new. I've been around for years and rarely post. I think that is the case for most users. You guys keep the digital juices flowing and the rest of us benefit by it.

Much appreciated!

And the community appreciates you, sheriff

The only thing I ever hear about Facebook/Twitter/etc is when somebody says something stupid and then has to utter an abject apology - and possibly gets fired from a job or becomes an object of ridicule.

NOBODY EVER GOT OUT OF TROUBLE BY POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

Complaining to customer service on social media with a legit complaint does sometimes work a lot better compared to the regular customer service.

I a not here advertising social media, but I think there is no harm in checking it out by yourself and finding out first hand what it is all about. I found a few prep goodies on Instagram and Pinterest for example. There are accounts of Matt Graham of Dual Survival for example and there are several infographs of knots and shelters made by a poncho on Pinterest for example

It actually depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for cooking recipes you will find them. If you are looking for stupid jerks, you will find them. If you look for business advise, you will find it. And so on

Sorry
Had to edit the post
Seems I a bit rusty. LOL

I tried to copy an image from Pinterest about hurricane preparedness
But failed to do it.

The point is : there is some stuff that is OK

Hi,

Over here emergency alerts on your phone lead to twitter
https://www.chp.ca.gov/news-alerts
https://mobile.twitter.com/CHPAlerts

Some official announcements, including emergency announcements, go out via social media (often Twitter). Check with your local government.

Some neighborhood-based social media can be useful, too, in emergencies.

In my corner of the world, many WhatsApp groups are based on neighborhoods or extended families. There is a group for my extended family in several countries, and we share news about weddings, funerals, or other family occasions. Also, neighborhoods may have whatsapp group to share info and congratulations or condolenses. Time to time they share info about house robberies or health info or whatever .

Due to my knee problem, I posted a question about the best physiotherapy center in town, and got some good info.

I can see the utility of social media but aside from forums I don't use any. Just doesn't interest me but my brother uses it to keep track of the extended family (especially his adult children living in other states).

It's generational:we are here, and the younger folk are choosing to do something newer, shinier, and to us, annoying and perilous.

It's technical: in the early days, web forums (fori?)were cutting edge social platforms. Then a bunch of innovation happened, and competition developed. Prepping became mainstream to the extent of becoming a media industry and youtube category.

It's organizational: all organizations exhibit a life cycle, even a loose structure like an online forum. The enthusiasm and chaotic interaction of youth segues into the more disciplined behavior of maturity enacted through establishment of norms and enforcers, with corrective actions imposed on norm breakers. This makes the forum less combative, and, arguably, less interesting.

Let's focus more on what social media can do for emergency preparation or in case of an emergency.

Advantages over other forms of communication

-- Notification (via your phone). This is a big advantage. To get notification from TV or radio, you have to be watching TV or listening to the radio. Similarly, you have to go to a website to see an update. The weather radio only alerts you to certain types of things. Sirens go off only in urgent situations. With something like Twitter, as you go about your day, you may hear a beep. You pick up the phone and get the latest update about Dorian.

-- A wider range of notifications.

-- Able to include information like images, links, videos, etc.

Disadvantages

-- If the cell network goes down (and they often do in emergencies), you are out of luck. Radio seems the most robust. On the other hand, many emergencies do not knock out the cell tower.

-- Notification depends on the people doing it, and in some cases there is no pressure to get it done right, unlike TV or radio. I subscribed to this notification service provided by the local government. After a year, I realized no one was actually handling it. It was basically a defunct account.

Surely this is not a complete list. Jump in, guys!

Maybe I'm old school, but I never believed the trade-off of personal information was worth the benefits of social media. (That's another discussion.)

For a source of immediate information in a crisis, I can see social media being very useful. One would have to carefully gauge the quality of that information before acting on it.

My primary grouse is that, unlike forums, content on social media is locked behind a paywall, essentially copyrighted by the platform, and can't be preserved through projects like Wayback Machine (archive.org).

So, when it comes to the accumulation of long-term knowledge and experience, they can forget it for you wholesale.

You don't have to give any personal information. You don't even have to give your name. You can use a fake name, fake location, fake email account, etc. You can just sign up for the emergency notification services, leaving very little "signature."

The problem is that many people don't have the discipline. They find their friends online, or they like some celebrity's profile. They want to share the cat pictures. They want to yell at the news. At some point they start giving out personal information voluntarily, etc. People forget themselves and post their phone number and address in public places, thinking they're giving that information just to friends.

On my FB account, I regularly change past posts to private, keep a very low profile and use all the security features I can. So much so that when one aggravated (Antifa) person checked out my profile she wondered if I was real person or just using a fake account. I like to keep people guessing and don't like to reveal much personal information. I had an incident a few years ago, where some jerk decided that he didn't like my comment and was able to gather enough intel on me that he researched my private information and published it online as some sort of cyber bullying revenge. He even tried to get me fired from my job just because he was "offended".

Sounds smart Roarmeister.

For people who are avoiding social media because they are worried about their privacy, I feel like I should clarify that you can go even more "low profile" than getting into an ugly political argument in public with a stranger who then begins to stalk you. Nobody would force you to make public statements on social media. You are not required to yell at anyone or participate in anything like that. It is completely voluntary.

It's not so much privacy for me as just apathy. Nothing about Facebook interests me.

Perhaps because you haven´t found any interesting groups to join.

I´m member on a couple of educative groups; one that gathers historical photos of my birth village and one war historical group.

I dumped FB when it became apparent that real friends with whom I could have a civilized discussion with in person tended to snipe on FB where the "discussion" process is...well...hampered. And this is where I had a rule that I had to be able to call (phone, have direct contact info) any friend on FB meaning real friends, not cyber ones.

Could be. I guess I dink around enough on the internet though, no point in seeking ways to waste more time! Plus, Facebook's business model and actions are morally objectionable to me and I don't trust it with my data.

In instagram and twitter, you do not have to write your real name. Just choose any user name, like we did in this forum, and it is acceptable. I am not very knowledgeable but I think only Facebook and LinkedIn you have to put your real name . Even in LinkedIn, I have seen many whose chose the label (LinkedIn member) and no photo.

I think there is so much nonsense on social media that we oversee the gems and big benefits. Like some of you I have been fed up with ppl shooting videos of every second of their daily life, their breakfast, their lunch, coffee break, dinner .. and was afraid they will go into their bedrooms shooting 18+ stuff. It is too much nonsense that I deleted Snapchat.

But I didn't give them all a blanket judgment. I went thru Twitter and found many good advices from inspiring and business ppl to young job seekers, many were discussing different subjects and you can choose what to follow. Instagram too, has junk as well as respectable feed. Depends what you follow. I managed to find some of my favorite cafe's , follow some of my interests, and even some edc pages. Pinterest is great too. From cooking recipes to bushcraft knots, they are all there.