YouTube and Geocaching

[+Fencedog]

I love YouTube. The greatest source of interesting video since Blockbuster and Hollywood came on the scene. I also love Geocaching. It gets me out of the house away from endless hours spent watching YouTube. But when the two cross paths?I recently typed "geocaching" into the YT search bar and came up with dozens of videos. Cachers bushwhacking through the woods seeking the ultimate find. However, it goes beyond that. These people tape themselves pulling the cache out of its hidden location, and then broadcast it for the world to see! I have never been more peeved than when I saw a kid pull the cache out (his second find) and show it on YouTube! ARGH!!! These people seem to have no respect for the person who hid the cache, and no respect for the caching community. I mean, who wants to go find a cache when you've virtually already been there. To tape the hunt is one thing, but don't give up the Final! Turn it off while you pull the cache out, move it away from the spot and THEN turn it back on. Don't show us all where it is, that's like telling us how the movie ends before we've seen it! Okay, rant done. Still ticked though. If this ever happens to one of my caches I'm moving it ASAP, and deleting logs from the culprit! I wish I could move all of THEIR hides, but I still have some morals. Who's with me?

[+j.ollie]

I love YouTube. The greatest source of interesting video since Blockbuster and Hollywood came on the scene. I also love Geocaching. It gets me out of the house away from endless hours spent watching YouTube. But when the two cross paths?

 

On the flip side, there's a mystery cache near me (GC1C5YQ) where you have to watch a video on YouTube to figure out the location of the cache.

[greenworldfeather]

I love YouTube. The greatest source of interesting video since Blockbuster and Hollywood came on the scene. I also love Geocaching. It gets me out of the house away from endless hours spent watching YouTube. But when the two cross paths?

 

On the flip side, there's a mystery cache near me (GC1C5YQ) where you have to watch a video on YouTube to figure out the location of the cache.

 

If I may say something. It is actually a pain in the butt, yes, but when you have an idea for a cache(I am guilty of this) that you can't seem to put in less than 500 words without leaving out needed details especially if it is a puzzle. I have a 3D puzzle that I can't seem to explain very well without boring people to the point of going to sleep. That is in my view, the good thing about youtube. People can still post things on the thread that you have on the geocaching/Groundspeak forum site to talk about it, if you have a thread on there that is. It also eplains itself a lot better, because you can figure out how to put it in explainable words before you put it on a cache page so you don't utterly confuse the reviewer and other cachers to the point of not wanting to do it because of that same fact. I hope that this explains some things to some people. Thanks, and have a great day. gwf

[+undertree]

I have taped many hunts. In fact one of my signature items is a DVD that shows us hunting caches. While editing I tried to edit out many of the EUREKA moments. I also saved a book mark list of the caches that are on the DVD so that people can review the list of caches that are on the DVD. So the DVD can only be seen by people who retrieve the DVD from a cache.

 

It never really bothers me that people post videos on youtube. If you want to watch it on youtube try to stay away from videos that reveal the GC number then it is not so much a spoiler.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I've watched only a few, and what got me thinking was how suspicious the searchers looked. No wonder people call the Bomb Squad!! I actually archived a few of my more exposed Caches after seeing how suspicious searchers looked while hunting.

[+buttaskotch]

Don't like it? Just like a TV show you don't like.....turn it off.

Very easy.

[+Fencedog]

Don't like it? Just like a TV show you don't like.....turn it off.

Very easy.

 

I won't watch it. It's not me I'm worried about. It's the other million people that watch YouTube...

 

Jethro: "Hey Bubba, somebody done hid sumthin' in the woods over by the crick!"

Bubba: "Right on Brother! Let's go steal, destroy, vandalize and/or piss in it!"

Jethro: "YEE HAW!"

 

There are reasons we HIDE these things. I figure it's not hidden if everyone knpows where it is!

[+Knight2000]

I have seen a few youtube vids but i don't deliberately spend time there. Unless they are posting the GC number or location- what are the chances that a youtube watcher is going to actually look for that particular cache? The answer is so minuscule that it doesn't bother me one bit.

 

When i think of youtube i think of teenagers and maybe those a few years older. Most of them dont cache. They text, play video games, text some more and then finish up the day on facebook/myspace and youtube. This is how i imagine it anyway...

[+Headhardhat]

Personally I can't agree completely with your statements about geocaching and YouTube. My GeoSnippits tutorials are a great example where the two can work in harmony. Granted I do not tell which geocaches I am showing at the time and sometimes I am purposely inaccurate of what city I say I am in just to keep the public unaware. Show geocaches as a tutorial has been very benificial to new geocachers as to what to look for.

 

So I have found my nitch.. How the rest of the world does it can be debatable I am sure...

 

-HHH

[+Chi-Town Cacher]

I agree with the OP on this one. Filming the hunt is great, however filming somebody elses final cache location and revealing how it's camoflagued without the owners permission is wrong! If you want to film the moment of the find then get the cache owners permision first. If you can't get the cache owners permision then you can always place a cache that is not published and show the viewers what they might encounter in a typical search. That way new geocachers can learn, but the video won't be giving away a cache owners efforts at camoflague. To show the location of somebody else's cache hiding spot is wrong!!!

[+briansnat]

Most of the videos I've seen where you can see the cache in its hiding place don't tell you what cache it is, so I don't think those are issues.

 

The few that do show the cache name and cache location are invariably hundreds of miles away and caches I'll never attempt.

 

I guess there may be a handful of locals who will find out about the video and see the spoiler, but I don't think it happens enough to be a major area of concern.

[+Taoiseach]

What I find hilarious, is that we were able to figure out where the final to a very difficult puzzle was, but looking at the owner's GPS, in the video that HE posted on youtube!

 

We saw where the cache was hidden and everything! Unfortunately, it was either muggled, or else fell and was covered in snow, so we were never able to find it. Would have made for a great story though

[+Team Perks]

These people tape themselves pulling the cache out of its hidden location, and then broadcast it for the world to see! I have never been more peeved than when I saw a kid pull the cache out (his second find) and show it on YouTube! ARGH!!! These people seem to have no respect for the person who hid the cache, and no respect for the caching community. I mean, who wants to go find a cache when you've virtually already been there.

I'm finding it very difficult to be incensed at this. If I videotape myself catching a fish at a scenic lake, or driving my Jeep up a great 4x4 trail, have I ruined the fun for anyone else who might go fishing on the same lake or driving up the same trail? I think not.

 

Honestly, how many people are going to be scouring Youtube for geocaching videos in the first place? (I know I have better things to do.) Second, how many people are actually going to remember what they saw on the video by the time they get to where the cache is hidden? (I know I wouldn't.) Third, what makes you so sure that anyone who DID happen to discover the video, and who happened to live nearby, wouldn't respond by saying "Hey that looks cool, I should visit that cache"? (That's been my reaction to plenty of other videos I've seen unrelated to caching.)

 

As far as I'm concerned, bring all the photography equipment you want to my caches. Film the scenery, the hunt, the find, the container. Post it on Youtube. Tweet it. Write about it in your blog. Frankly, rather than wanting to rant, I'd be quite flattered that my cache was worth your time and trouble posting for the world to see.