CLUB SKILLS
SOCIAL SPACE
As social media explodes, do clubs still have a role to play in the digital age? Katy Dartford investigates.
C
limbing: a world of solitary adventures, commitment and self suffi ciency. A real chance to get away from the fast paced, Big Brother world of the internet? Think again. In the last fi ve years, social media has exploded. Facebook now has 1.23 billion users – roughly 17 per cent of the world's population – Twitter has 500 million accounts and there is a dizzying further array of social media, such as LinkedIn, Pinterest, Meetup, Google + and Instagram. We now live in a world where people interact with each other more online than they do in real life; a world where, for some, Facebook and Twitter have replaced the need for conventional methods of interaction. What does this brave new world mean for clubs – is it a golden opportunity to reach new members, or a threat to their very survival? Increasingly, climbing and walking
clubs – whether enthusiastically or reluctantly – are using social media to promote themselves, arrange trips, share news and information, have a debate or get feedback on issues. But in doing so, are they in danger of making themselves obsolete? Dan Brown, from the Maidstone Mountaineering Club, has a blunt reality check: “Organising a partner has become much easier, but the only time I did that I faced death with a totally inexperienced climber who didn't tell me he couldn't belay on lead, even after being asked. In the end, we climb with people we know and trust, and that’s how it always should be.”
But if social media connects people, surely it could be a good thing for clubs, especially those struggling to recruit new members or organise meets? If it helps get people car sharing and joining one another on crags and walls, then that has to be a positive? Dan agrees, but simply thinks we should all just “adapt and carry on climbing”. From his perspective, social media hasn’t really changed club membership: “We’re still an active club, and since I dragged the club kicking and screaming into the digital age 12 years ago, we've been ahead of it. But the club’s preference is still for email rather than social websites.”
One trend in the club has been a drop
in the number of social meets. Malcolm Phelps, another active member of the club, explains: “The popularity of weekly or even less frequent pub meets during the week has fallen off. Active members are happy with one evening a week at the climbing wall and a separate pub meet isn’t needed. One of the functions of the pub meet was to arrange the weekend, and it’s now much easier to arrange that via email.”
Despite the drop in meets, “our club still feels like a club, albeit relatively informal,” reckons Malcolm. “We do have fi xed events, such as an annual dinner and Christmas and New Year meets, and despite no longer producing a club journal, people write up their trips and share photos on our website. There is still a role for clubs like ours. It still feels like a club and a good core of active members ensures that any new members can gain experience if they want to. Our club has adapted and still works. ” Paul Highams – who revamped the
Tunbridge Wells Mountaineering Club’s website to bring it into the modern era – also agrees that email is still best for their club: “We had 150 emails to the new member email account in the last two years. We have a Google calendar and from that that we use IFTT (If This Then That) to send calendar updates via email, Facebook and Twitter.” But, he says, Facebook and Twitter don't get used much at all: there are only 89 Facebook followers and our Twitter feed has just 40 followers.” The most likely explanation? The club’s membership profi le is mostly over 50. Where are the younger members that the club would no doubt like to attract? The chance are that they’re hanging
86 | 70TH ANNIVERSAR
0TH AN IVERSARY | FOR BRITISH CLIMBING AND W R BRI
BR TISH C MBING AND WALND WA
D WALKING SINCE 1944 GS
NG SINC 1944
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100