Fishing: the social networking dilemma
The "dilemma" is basically this: Do I waste my time on these sites or not? My answer is simply NO. The reason is simple: The new fishing "social networking" sites that have launched recently are just plain WEAK.
For example, I looked at 2 sites recently thefin.com and anglingmasters.com. A friend of mine said he knew the guy who started thefin, so I gave it a fair shake. Anglingmasters was mentioned in techcrunch last year. Here's the skinny on these fishing sites: they both suck!
Hey guys (and gals), a nicely designed CMS does not a social networking website make. Do you know why there are only a few good SNS sites that are popular? It's because it's hard. It's hard because the true value of a social networking experience is the data relationships between your members and the interaction stimulus that you provide in the UI.
Both of these site owners must think pretty pictures and a couple of "celebrity" "fly guys" is a recipe for success. It's true that visuals for fishing fanatics (like me) are stimulating. But I want to know more about who and what I am related to more so than a picture of a guy kissing an illegal bluefin tuna from God knows where.
If you want a more interesting experience than what is offered today, I suggest you try your favorite forum. Personally, from my geo area, Noreast.com or surfrats.com are great places to start and get acquainted with people that want to INTERACT with you (i.e. socially network).
Sorry for the rant, but frankly, it had to be done. Us fishermen need good sites so we can share ideas and really connect. We don't need hyped up, wannabe celebrity driven websites that don't deliver.
(disclaimer: I am in the business of the internet and I was a charter captain out of Montauk)
Capt. Kevin
For example, I looked at 2 sites recently thefin.com and anglingmasters.com. A friend of mine said he knew the guy who started thefin, so I gave it a fair shake. Anglingmasters was mentioned in techcrunch last year. Here's the skinny on these fishing sites: they both suck!
Hey guys (and gals), a nicely designed CMS does not a social networking website make. Do you know why there are only a few good SNS sites that are popular? It's because it's hard. It's hard because the true value of a social networking experience is the data relationships between your members and the interaction stimulus that you provide in the UI.
Both of these site owners must think pretty pictures and a couple of "celebrity" "fly guys" is a recipe for success. It's true that visuals for fishing fanatics (like me) are stimulating. But I want to know more about who and what I am related to more so than a picture of a guy kissing an illegal bluefin tuna from God knows where.
If you want a more interesting experience than what is offered today, I suggest you try your favorite forum. Personally, from my geo area, Noreast.com or surfrats.com are great places to start and get acquainted with people that want to INTERACT with you (i.e. socially network).
Sorry for the rant, but frankly, it had to be done. Us fishermen need good sites so we can share ideas and really connect. We don't need hyped up, wannabe celebrity driven websites that don't deliver.
(disclaimer: I am in the business of the internet and I was a charter captain out of Montauk)
Capt. Kevin
posted by fishingmontauk at Monday, September 22, 2008
3 Comments:
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the fair shake but of course I have to disagree with your blog post. As the founder of The Fin I can say that we offer WAY more than just pretty pictures. I don't think its fair to say that "Both of these site owners (of course I cant speak for the other site you mention) must think pretty pictures and a couple of "celebrity" "fly guys" is a recipe for success". I don't, and think you need to dig a little deeper before make such comments. I'm assuming in The Fin's case you are talking about Paul Dixon? He appeared in my series Guide House: Montauk (I think you are actually on my Guide House page on myspace http://www.myspace.com/fishmontauk ) so it's natural that he would appear on The Fin but he is not featured more than any other guide or captain so I would hardly call The Fin celebrity driven. More than pretty pictures, I think so: The Fin provides a valuable (and free) service to fishing guides and charter captains to market their business and in the short time we have been live hundreds and hundreds of guides have taken advantage of this great service . The Fin also provides a free community platform to fishing clubs and conservation groups, an example of one which recently joined is Stripers Forever. We also provide valuable resources in the way of fishing reports, weather & tides, and even a free service to have weather, tides and fishing reports sent to your cell phone or email on the days and times you want it. The Fin also has a growing video library with both our video channels as well as our user videos. We also offer a rich array of social networking tools, a few of which you can see in my user profile. A thriving social network definitely depends on it's users and in the 3 months we have been live we have seen that grow by leaps and bounds too. The Fin was born out of frustration of the current internet landscape including some of the sites that you mention, but like anything it takes time to grow and we are dedicated to doing whatever it takes to build the best fishing site. "Us fishermen need good sites so we can share ideas and really connect. We don't need hyped up, wannabe celebrity driven websites that don't deliver." I think I fish as hard if not harder than most and I agree that we need a good sites so we can share ideas and connect and I hope and think we are well on our way to doing that with The Fin. jason@thefin.com
Jason,
I appreciate your response and I think it's good business to defend your website, particularly if you truly believe in it. I can tell you have a passion for what you have built and that is something missing from most others.
It is possible I did not quite give you the "fair shake" I mentioned. However, when I come to a website like yours, I expected to feel like there is activity that pertains to me, which I did not.
That being said, I did look at your guides pages today and really like it. It's a good mashup with the map capability.
Since you took the time to respond so deeply, I will make you a promise. I will revisit your website by the end of this weekend and really go through it deeply. If I change my mind, (which I do) I will give you another writeup. Also, since you have put in this effort, I will leave all of your (seo) links.
In the end, I just want quality. There are too many bad efforts out there that ruin the motivation to find the good ones. People will just stop looking for places to interact. When they stop looking, that is one less person I can connect with.
You seem motivated to build something great and I can appreciate that.
BTW, where are you physically located?
Kevin
Thanks Kevin,
I tried to send a reply to yours earlier but think it got deleted before I posted it. I'm located in NYC and fish out east every day (mostly nights actually) of every weekend from May till December. As you know any social network depends on active users and it takes a long time to build a rich content and community site but that's my goal...one fisherman at a time.
With The Fin, I have laid out a framework that I think, when used, will be a valuable resource to fishermen everywhere. But as we grow and get feedback from our users we are constantly tweaking things (adding or deleting features or making existing ones work better). The Fin is definitely not something that I just threw out there in hopes that people will come. We are actively trying to build something great. So in the end I'm after quality too.
I appreciate your feedback and look forward to your contributions.
JP
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