"Public Lands Hate You" - Shaming and Policing Instagram - does it work?

Welcome to Episode 107 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast with the person behind the popular Instagram account "Public Lands Hate You!"  Over the past year, the Instagram account "Public Lands Hate You" has grown exponentially in popularity as we have been seeing more and more people in public land doing things that are damaging these places we all cherish as landscape photographers. "Public Lands Hate You" re-shares photos that are posted to Instagram that showcase people engaging in behavior that is either illegal or is damaging to public lands.  We had a really fascinating and engaging conversation about why they created Instagram account, what their goal is for the account, their methodologies for showcasing illegal and bad behavior in the outdoors, the psychology behind some of the behavior we see in the outdoors, how to change behavior, the use of shaming vs. education, backlash they have received since creating the account, and a lot more. You can see examples of some of his posts below.  Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! There's a ton of bonus content over there for subscribers! Your support is critical - it helps with production costs and to improve the podcast over time. Thanks! Even $1 / mo helps a lot! We are growing closer to our goal of getting to $1,000/mo in support, at which point I will create an award to be given to a photographer that is a champion of conservation. Help us get there! This week on Patreon, "Public Lands Hate You" shares some fascinating stories about some of the accounts they have interacted with on Instagram and what some of the effects of those interactions were. To learn more about Public Lands Hate You, check out their website and Instagram account: Website. Instagram. "Public Lands Hate You" recommended listeners check out the account of "everchanginghorizon" on Instagram as a potential future guest.  They also recommended other Instagram accounts similar to his, including: Trash the Planet Joshua Tree Hates You Unethical Outdoors Insta Wrecked We are doing something new over on Patreon. Patrons of the podcast are encouraged to participate in our themed photo contests by submitting them to the "community board" on our Patreon Page. The theme for the last two weeks was "Earth Day." We had some really fantastic submissions on Patreon, including my favorite from Mark Clafshenkel, Mark posted an image of Exit Glacier in Alaska that really blew me away. You should all check it out! It has everything, in my opinion. A great foreground, a great composition, great light, and a fantastic subject. Most importantly for me, the shot is quite unique! Nice job Mark! Here is what Mark had to say about it: "Here's a favorite hike along Exit Glacier toward the 300 mile long, 100 mile wide Harding Ice Field. It's a 9 mile roundtrip hike with an elevation gain of about 3300 feet." All right - let's talk about the theme for the next two weeks. I want to see your photos that best represent a subject that is "back-lit." I'll send the winner some awesome stickers that Phill Monson created.  I love hearing from the podcast listeners! Reach out to me via Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter if you'd like to be on the podcast or if you have an idea of a topic we can talk about. You can also join the conversation on our Facebook Group! We've also started an Instagram page and a Facebook page for the podcast, where we'll be sharing updates as we go! As a reminder, you can also support the podcast by shopping at B+H for your photography gear using our Affiliate Link.