Is Geotagging Ruining the Outdoors?
April 29, 2021
Geotagging: simply put, Geotagging is the practice of sharing where a photo was taken on Instagram, but it’s a topic that people tend to have a strong opinion on. This opinion? Geotagging is ruining the outdoors.
I was one of these people. A few years ago, I strongly believed that geotagging was bad for the environment, and that Instagram was ruining the outdoors. Geotagging and Instagram lead to trail overuse, right? Plus, I had to do the work to find that spot. So should everyone else. Right?
Then, I read this article by Danielle Williams at Melanin Base Camp, and thought long and hard about it. I recommend you click that link good and hard.
The idea that sharing locations is bad for the environment is an easy stance to take. It feels environmentalist. But with any examination at all, it’s actually not.
Is Geotagging Ruining the Outdoors?
It’s not a secret that the outdoors have seen a huge increase in visitation since the advent of social media, and even more since COVID-19 made outdoor activities one of the only things anyone could do. And it’s true that as a result, more people are visiting more places and recreating on public land.
On a very related note, I recently wrote a paddling and hiking guide for the Northern Great Lakes Region, Hidden Gems of the Northern Great Lakes. Here’s what the internet had to say to that:
![I hope you feel responsible to clean and maintain the areas you give away. With great knowledge comes great responsibility. [red heart emoji]](https://i0.wp.com/madelinemarquardt.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-08-at-12.53.36-PM.png?resize=594%2C230&ssl=1)
There are a couple of things to dive into here.
The first is that the trail guide and outdoor writing industry has been around for some time, with writers and outdoorsmen sharing their trail advice and favorite spots. Google “hiking guidebook” and scroll through the names—Jimmy, William, Craig. I have a hard time imagining this comment left for a writer with one of those names.
I could be wrong. (I won’t be sharing this man’s follow up comment directly, though I will say I strongly suspect I am not wrong). Comment thread is on this post below.
Thinly veiled sexism aside, this comment actually follows that same logic I used to subscribe to: sharing locations is bad for the environment.
Here’s the thing: that doesn’t stand to reason. Here’s why:
Location sharing of hiking trails is sharing locations of public land with the public
All of these lands are public lands, meaning they belong to everyone. We all pay taxes to maintain and protect these lands, and I don’t have any more a right to enjoy these places than anyone else.
Intentionally withholding information/access to this land disproportionately targets people living in cities without access to these lands, which I find incredibly unfair.
1. Withholding information leads to overuse of some trails, actually harming the environment more than helping. Sharing some of these “secret spots” actually disperses the environmental load on some areas and ultimately helps the environment. It’s not uncommon for popular trails to close to allow them time to recover.
2. The amount of people who will actually visit these secret spots if they’re hard to get to is probably minimal. If they’re easy to get to (easy parking, right off the highway, maintained trail) then they’re meant to be used.
3. It takes having a positive experience in the outdoors to care about protecting the outdoors. The more people we can inspire to get outside and have those experiences, the more meaningful outdoor advocates we have.
Not sharing information keeps these public spaces for the people who already have access to them; a demographic that tends to be disproportionately white, and disproportionally male.
I’m not saying that trash on trails isn’t an issue: but the solution isn’t less geotagging. The reason there is trash on trails is of lack of proper education on Leave No Traces and an excess of single use plastics. Not Instagram. It’s a huge false equivalency that frankly makes zero sense.
Instagram, or geotagging, is not responsible for trash on trails; individual people littering accidentally or on purpose are.
Do I have to Geotag then?
No. It is not your responsibility to act as a trail guide for everyone, so you absolutely don’t have to share locations if that’s not your thing. But shaming other people for sharing locations is counterproductive.
Whether you realize it or not, shaming other people for location sharing gives the impression that these places that are public land belong most to the people who have access to them already — a group that, again, is predominately white, and often male.
Want to learn more about some of the hidden hikes in Minnesota? Click here!
When NOT to Geotag
Don’t Geotag the locations of wildlife
It is a bad idea to geotag when sharing your location might engager an animal population. For example, if you stumbled upon a fox den on a lake and have cute pictures of baby foxes, tagging that lake could endanger that population of animals by bringing people to their homes.
Protecting your Privacy with careful Geotag use
If you’re on private land with permission and don’t want to share the location, that’s a great reason not to geotag! Protecting the privacy of yourself and others is a totally reasonable and respectful reason not to tag.
The same goes for not tagging lakes or trails within a certain radius of where you live, or not tagging places you frequently visit.
What if I still think Geotagging is bad always?
When it came down to it, the reason I was against geotagging and sharing locations to begin with, was 1) I assumed other people would ruin the place, which is an assumption also rooted in the idea that I am somehow a better steward of the environment than anyone else could be (and is wrong), and 2) I wanted the trail to myself.
Here’s the thing: wanting a trail to stay empty for my own enjoyment meant I loved my experience on that trail more than the trail and the environment itself.
If you’re on the trail for solitude and want it to stay that way, that’s fine. But don’t confute loving your specific experience in the outdoors as environmentalism, especially when that experience intrinsically relies implicit barriers to access for already marginalized groups.
Read more about the Geotagging Debate:
5 Reasons Why You Should Keep Geotagging, Danielle Williams, Melanin Base Camp
The Geotagging Debate is Really About Gatekeeping in the Outdoors, Tyler Moss, Conde Nast Traveler
Race, Public Lands And The Debate Over Geotagging, Maggie Mullen, Wyoming Public Media
Pin me!!
