Pay for content

[Mule3006Elk]

I only pay for one and it's only $10/month. I work from home most of time and at times it's nice to throw an elk/mule deer/pronghorn show on to pass some time. Especially, when I work an overnight.

If I'm not working I don't watch them.

 

[downthepipe]

I won’t pay for hunting content but I do watch the free stuff and don’t really care if I have to watch a 30 second ad. I pay for XM radio because it’s nice to have all the Sports games while out of service.

 

[Button]

I read more about equipment/gear. When I do watch hunting related content it’s usually not actual hunts. Only patron I ever gave money too was ‘Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t’. Hilarious and very informative when it comes to plants.

 

[TheTone]

A former coworker of mine now makes his living as an influencer and patreon. I have zero desire to give him a dime! I have no desire to pay for his families health insurance when he and his wife left good stable careers, pay for a burnout lacky cameraman/caretaker for him or assist him exploiting wildlife for his personal gain

 

[Molon Labe]

Nothing is free.

You are paying for content no matter how it is delivered. Your time and your eyes for the "free" stuff. haha.

Playing around on rokslide you see ads and spent time searching.
You watch youtube you get ads and are giving them your information so they can use analytics to cater more content and ads specifically to you.
TV shows have ads/commercials even if you have analog local stations.

How do you value your time?

Do you value your freetime at $5/hr? $20/hr? $50/hr? $150/hr?

The average person spends 2.5hrs a day on social media. And they take in over 5hrs of "media" a day.
So lets say you create a side business that you spend time on...you will have at minimum 3 hrs a day of free time. Lets say that business generates $30/hr of net income.
You are then "spending" around $90/day to watch hunting shows or play around on social media....seems expensive to me!
Or you could spend extra time being productive at work instead of plugging into media/commercialization. Being more productive at work will gain you larger income in the long term.

Watching that 1 hour youtube video costs you $30 of your time plus you probably had 10 minutes of ads in the video...so $3 of time that had zero "productivity".

If you can get information that you specifically need/want delivered most efficiently how much is that worth to you?

Decisions decisions people...dont give your time away and consider "free content" to be free....ITS NOT!

 

[Team4LongGun]

Nothing is free.

You are paying for content no matter how it is delivered. Your time and your eyes for the "free" stuff. haha.

Playing around on rokslide you see ads and spent time searching.
You watch youtube you get ads and are giving them your information so they can use analytics to cater more content and ads specifically to you.
TV shows have ads/commercials even if you have analog local stations.

How do you value your time?

Do you value your freetime at $5/hr? $20/hr? $50/hr? $150/hr?

The average person spends 2.5hrs a day on social media. And they take in over 5hrs of "media" a day.
So lets say you create a side business that you spend time on...you will have at minimum 3 hrs a day of free time. Lets say that business generates $30/hr of net income.
You are then "spending" around $90/day to watch hunting shows or play around on social media....seems expensive to me!
Or you could spend extra time being productive at work instead of plugging into media/commercialization. Being more productive at work will gain you larger income in the long term.

Watching that 1 hour youtube video costs you $30 of your time plus you probably had 10 minutes of ads in the video...so $3 of time that had zero "productivity".

If you can get information that you specifically need/want delivered most efficiently how much is that worth to you?

Decisions decisions people...dont give your time away and consider "free content" to be free....ITS NOT!

Very well put. So true. Although I don’t do social media-outside of this forum, it is not lost on me that this is a business, and money is earned from my time spent here. Nothing is free!
Where it gets finicky to me is, I read a lot of threads on here where some bash (rightfully so in my opinion) “influencers and social media contributors” for exploiting hunting. Yet, in some form-like it or not-we all are contributing. I personally draw the line at this forum, but this forum is a large entity in the realm of hunting and social media. The finger pointing is somewhat hypocritical.....

Make no mistake, I personally do not care for any of the “look at me” hunters that have taken hunting and began capitalizing on it-especially since the message, product or brand they are sponsored by makes them biased. But....where is that line drawn? Where does it end? Are gear reviews on here next? If the product being reviewed was donated for said review, what are the rules for subjectivity? Is it truly unbiased? Just something to think about-

 

[ODB]

I don't see the current social media version of hunting programming and podcasting lasting long. It is a relatively small market and there is only so much that can be covered before they are tapped out of new things to put in front of your eyes or ears that will keep people interested. There is a lot more to life than watching some dudes desperate hunt for YouTube content.

I find it interesting how the Born and raised crew changed so much since the original land of the free. They went from high effort bowhunting to shooting elk with that sig ballistic app thing. I get it, it pays, but I think it sucks.

That’s why new hunters are so necessary. Guys/gals who have been in the game a few years basically have all they need and just move on. Recruiting new hunters is vital because they see the info as novel and also are more willing to buy products to help them succeed - as is common with damn near every endeavour. You’ll note that the vast majority of MEs content is pointed directly at the new hunter - constant “how tos”, “kit contents”, each of which has links to buy the products mentioned.

Social media is suffering the same ills as the 24-hour news cycle. In order to fill space, the content necessarily gets diluted and simplified. Hunting is just part of social media now so…lather, rinse, repeat.

 

[OregonSteeler]

Is there really a big difference from paying for exclusive access to an influencer's content; than buying magazines 20yrs ago (Outdoor Life is still around ya know), or purchasing a hunting specific DVD for you and your buddy's to watch a couple months before elk season?

I'm guilty of having subscriptions to magazines, and have bought a couple of DVDs in my past. Haven't crossed into paid online content yet though. Just too much stuff for free that I can watch for 20min while folding laundry. Admittedly, as much as some influencers are now the devil to most; some produce some high quality content that I truly enjoy.

I can see why some "scoff" at the idea of ingesting someone else's hunting content. Possibly because hunting/fishing has always been more a way of life, than a hobby or get-away. Hunting/fishing wasn't ingrained into me since birth. It became a "learned passion" once I got out of the drunken college bar scene.

For myself, it takes quite a bit of effort to get outdoors with work (both mine and my wife's), younger kids, their schooling, weekend sports, family, etc... Plus, to drive to an area with decent hunting/fishing, I have to go at least an hour and 15min one way to get there. I'd LOVE to get out more, but it's just not possible to keep my life in balance. So those weekday nights in the middle of winter, when it's dark by 5p, and there's not much going on; I like throwing on a hunting of fishing show (free YT for now).

Outside of how I feel about it. Basically boils down to supply and demand. If there's enough people hitting those like buttons and putting money into influencer's pockets; hunting/fishing content isn't going away anytime soon.

 

[Jimmy]

There is enough free stuff to listen/watch that I don't have enough free time to need to pay for more content. I don't blame anyone for trying to make money, but I don't send them money either. It does me more good to use that money for gas and hunting gear.

I will buy books though. And I guess I do pay for netflix and amazon, so any hunting content that is on there I may check out.

 

[Rich M]

Not gonna pay for some dude to tell me how good he is. I dont watch em now anyway.

 

[Ucsdryder]

That’s why new hunters are so necessary. Guys/gals who have been in the game a few years basically have all they need and just move on. Recruiting new hunters is vital because they see the info as novel and also are more willing to buy products to help them succeed - as is common with damn near every endeavour. You’ll note that the vast majority of MEs content is pointed directly at the new hunter - constant “how tos”, “kit contents”, each of which has links to buy the products mentioned.

Social media is suffering the same ills as the 24-hour news cycle. In order to fill space, the content necessarily gets diluted and simplified. Hunting is just part of social media now so…lather, rinse, repeat.

Speak for yourself! I’ve been at this a long time and still seem to find stuff I “need” on a monthly basis!!

 

[Pinewood]

Speak for yourself! I’ve been at this a long time and still seem to find stuff I “need” on a monthly basis!!

That's interesting. I find the older I get, the less stuff I need.