Is YouTube and Social Media Counterproductive to Successful Reefkeeping?

[LeDart]

I believe that the 'reef influencers' are mostly in it for the money, they just take the sponsors and seldom support useful products. They can also make up an extremely expensive set up as if that is the only way you can have a successful reef.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Thanks, but I’m not a YouTuber, bud. Lol! I’m a Reefer. Yeah, I make sure to say, “ This is what works for my tanks” as often as possible to explain that my methods won’t always work for everyone. I just share what I do without pretending I am an authority on anything reef related.

Oh I wasn’t trying to label you as one haha, I know you put reefing above all and just make YouTube videos on the side, to share the knowledge you have. And the way you share the knowledge you have works for a lot of people!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I believe that the 'reef influencers' are mostly in it for the money, they just take the sponsors and seldom support useful products. They can also make up an extremely expensive set up as if that is the only way you can have a successful reef.

I feel like that’s the case for most hobby’s. You have those that care about the hobby and just want to share their love for it. Then you have those that take it a step further and want to be a “influencer” trying to push products, make money and a lot of the times not care too much about the hobby they are being an influencer for

 

[arcangelreef]

There’s good and bad.. I dislike the “influencers” who are clearly doing it just for the free stuff and ad revenue. Most of them dont actually contribute anything to the hobby other than pretty pictures. Which in itself I think is a massive disservice to the hobby. 99% of the pictures and videos out there are heavily doctored.

 

[Reefer Matt]

There’s good and bad.. I dislike the “influencers” who are clearly doing it just for the free stuff and ad revenue. Most of them dont actually contribute anything to the hobby other than pretty pictures. Which in itself I think is a massive disservice to the hobby. 99% of the pictures and videos out there are heavily doctored.

Yeah, it is tempting to get a bunch of free stuff. But at the end of the day, none of it is life critical and ends up being discarded junk at some point. Meanwhile morals and ethics may get compromised over a few hundred, or even thousand bucks. But the truth is that viewers want to be entertained, and entertainment usually beats education.

So by playing make believe, the “content creators” usually make art for visual appeal, but the viewers should realize that it isn’t always reality. A lot of times it is just like watching a commercial on tv.

 

[drolmaeye]

IMO, YouTube (especially) and social media (to a lesser extent) are MASSIVE positive influences in the hobby. There are so many people who are making a genuine effort to produce useful, educational, and entertaining content. The flip side, of course, is that anyone can produce content -- ranging from in-depth YouTube series to an off-hand comment on a FB group -- so one has to be selective when consuming what's out there.

When I go to a buffet, I cannot possibly eat everything offered (and some things I don't even want to eat). I make my selections carefully, and if I don't like something I tried, I don't take it when I make my second plate. Same with all of the reefing content out there -- I choose my sources carefully, think critically about what is presented to me, and don't frequent channels or groups if I don't feel I am getting good value. This 'info' forms an important part of my overall understanding and experience for moving forward in my hobby journey.

 

[00W]

I like you Matt and I think your posts are informative and honestly think you have all the best intentions.
I use you tube for music but would never rely on it for the aquarium hobby.
I've seen too much misinformation and marketing, people led astray into doing or purchasing the wrong thing.
That is just my opinion.
I have never watched one of your videos but now I might just to check it out.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I guess one of my goals if I were to get “semi-serious” with YouTube would be to stay neutral, or even bias toward the hobbyist side of the hobby (I call it a lifestyle). Sure, talking to experts and vendors gets a lot of clicks, but I have no desire to appear to be on the industry side of things. So finding that balance may be tricky, because it appears to not be the norm. But I also have no problem keeping things small and informal.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I like you Matt and I think your posts are informative and honestly think you have all the best intentions.
I use you tube for music but would never rely on it for the aquarium hobby.
I've seen too much misinformation and marketing, people led astray into doing or purchasing the wrong thing.
That is just my opinion.
I have never watched one of your videos but now I might just to check it out.

Thank you! I have seen my share as well. But if you watch mine, just keep expectations low, and I think it’ll be okay.

 

[00W]

Thank you! I have seen my share as well. But if you watch mine, just keep expectations low, and I think it’ll be okay.

Give yourself more credit than that Matt.
I'll check em out and get back to you.
Joel

 

[Battlecorals]

Just a random thought.

I'm gonna say this just is kind of miser at this point, but there's definitely a dunning Kruger effect with newer hobbyists on social media platforms that, and im being as polite as I can be here, kind of think they know it all.

And therefore other new hobbyists that get their information from these people absorb this info right or wrong as their knowledge base.

Is there anything really wrong with that? I'm not sure.that's probably how it's kind of been anyway.

maybe just a bit more obvious now because people can record themselves and say anything they want whenever they want in an effort to "educate"

 

[Reefer Matt]

I'm gonna say this just is kind of miser at this point, but there's definitely a dunning Kruger effect with newer hobbyists on social media platforms that, and im being as polite as I can be here, kind of think they know it all.

And therefore other new hobbyists that get their information from these people absorb this info right or wrong as their knowledge base.

Is there anything really wrong with that? I'm not sure.that's probably how it's kind of been anyway.

maybe just a bit more obvious now because people can record themselves and say anything they want whenever they want in an effort to "educate"

Sorta like the blind leading the blind. (Just using it as the saying, no offense meant to anyone! Lol!)
And that’s always a dilemma too. I often question myself if I should even bother talking about certain topics, because I am not an expert in reefing. But I always try to remember to say that “this is how I do it”, versus “this is how to do it”. I learned that real quick from R2R. Sometimes I might forget to differentiate that though, and hope I don’t lead anyone astray.