Gnarcissism

Outdoor recreation and social media are in a developing relationship. We have access to devices capable of updating our social profiles giving us the ability to share our adventure live. This new power in our hands in combination with the growing selfie phenomena has created a new persona: "The Gnarcissist."

I'm sure you have at least one social media friend who falls into this category. They are always out doing something in the outdoors and they always have nice photos. Those photos though, more often then not, have only them as the subject in the outdoors and not the outdoors itself. No, these aren't Ansel Adams landscapes being posted, these are photos in ski googles with a selfie stick and a caption like "The gnar doesn't shred itself bro! Huckin this!"

Love them or hate them, you at least enjoy the idea of people doing outdoor recreation, its inspiring, but those selfies... why?! and why isn't that me!? and hey, could you move over a bit so I can see that mountain in the background? It is fun to follow these guys because they are really crushing it and there are generally great photos to tell the story. It is also a bit frustrating when the subject matter has changed from the great outdoors to the great outdoorsman. #mylifeisbetterthanyourvacation is a long hash tag, a little pretentious and is starting to drift away from outdoor attitudes but hey that's a sweet shot! Bro?! do you even!?

We need to find a balance or we are going to end up a silly flower.

Oh, Shucks, Im that guy for some people....

-MG