Update: Thursday, November 23, 2023, 1:23:06PM EST
As usual, my extreme position on “never” live streaming again was, well, extreme. There is definitely a time and place for outdoor IRL live streaming in my life—especially if I start living more of it entirely on the road bikepacking as an “extreme digital nomad” all over the world (as Bellum called it). In fact, after doing several very long rides (6+ hours) in order to cover the mileage needed for a decent TransAmerica Trail ride I realized having a live stream to keep me company for some of it would be nice, even if the service was horrible and people could only hear sound. Plus I already have all the very expensive hardware for it and having a backup pay-as-you-go ATT account with minimal bandwidth is probably a good thing as a backup for work connectivity as well as dual-modem bonded live streams. So currently the plan is to get the Orange Pi working when it arrives and bringing the NightHawk M5 as well as the M6. I’ll add a phone mount between the aero bars as well. I can put all of it in the top-tube frame back and run the wires to my chest-mounted Action 4 in webcam mode. In terms of weight, I already need the redundant NightHawk to ensure I always have a working hotspot modem, so the only actual additional weight is for the Orange Pi. I won’t be able to live stream while riding for hours at a time mostly because of the power required to do that and the cost of the bandwidth. More on this in another zet.
My feelings about outdoor IRL live streaming have grown even stronger. At this point I seriously hate the thought and wince at the memory of how things used to be. I don’t mean to offend anyone who has enjoyed my IRL streams or other IRL streamers. I do love many of them. This is about the stupidity of the very idea of outdoor IRL streaming itself. Why would I limit my adventures to only places that have a “strong signal”? The entire point of getting outdoors is to escape, to connect with nature and those few intimate people who might be with me.
Let’s review some examples. One outdoor IRL streamer ran a 20 meter pole just to get a signal so they would live stream every single thing he and his family do from a “remote” location. Another paid outrageous StarLink fees just to setup their gaming rig in the middle of nowhere and live stream them gaming outside (until they got too paranoid of someone finding them and taking everything and stopped streaming at all). This seems absolutely ludicrous to me now that I’ve been away from it for a while.
The freedom from live streaming when outdoors is just too compelling to not continue not doing it. I’ve been hiking, biking, and running all over in different places I wasn’t able to even go while live streaming all by myself and loving every second of it. Most of the time I don’t even stop for a selfie or picture or video of what I’m doing. I just enjoy the ephemeral moment and hope my memory stays strong. It’s the only recording I have. Other times I take my 4K, binaural stereo mic recording rig and capture the experience so that I can relive it again later. The fact that others get to also experience it is just a bonus.
In fact, “vlogging” is really seems to be the answer for me. It has the same feel and simplicity of live streaming, and even can trick people into thinking they are right there with me, but has all the freedom from actual live streaming. Now that cameras like the DJI Pocket 3 exist there are even more compelling reasons just to vlog instead of live stream. Plus, there’s always the option to edit the video when live streaming mistakes are made. Most live streaming does not require the “live” element at all—especially if the videos are posted regularly so people following one’s adventures can give feedback.
As always, my motivations to live stream have always been selfish and I’ve always been forthcoming with that. When live streaming stopped serving a need I just stopped. I don’t need the community of people that hang with me when I stream. I enjoy their company. But I can remain a member of that community without live streaming all of it.
Last night at the art gallery open house at Davidson college I was reminded of another fact. I prefer hanging out with people in person (if I am going to hang out with anyone). This is something I fight with internally a lot. I wrote extensively about how virtual friends are every bit as real as real friends. I have met some of my best friends and even my wife online. I got a job online. My family has hung out with other families that we met online. Still, being able to find even a small handful of people I actually want to hang out with in person is way more valuable than even thousands of people in a chat room. Thankfully, I never had the success of other streamers unable to even maintain personal connections with those in their chat rooms.
And that is the greatest irony. The more successful a live streamer is the smaller the percentage of people they actually know from their communities. Most of the big streamers couldn’t name ten people by name from their communities (unless they paid 1000 dollars to have their name tattooed on their arm). I never want this for me. I’d prefer even just one solid friendship with someone that I can only do things with once a month even over a thousand casual live stream followers.
My problem has always been that I’m extremely picky about my friends. I just don’t want to hang out with people I don’t seriously respect and admire. Very few people measure up. I don’t like that I’m that way. I just am. (For the record, Doris is the same way.)
Besides, social media and YouTube are way better at getting to know the community and find those kind of real friends. People are less anonymous and I can get to know them in ways that cannot be done with live streaming. I can even pursue a deeper friendship with those I’ve vetted. I’d rather the relationship be somewhat reciprocal. You know everything about me, and I know a fair amount about you, and, omg, we still want to hang out. Those relationships, even if just through social media, are much more meaningful than most relationships that comes from a live stream, even though those type of relationships can easily come from initially meeting people through a live stream community.
Where am I looking for new friends? I’ve started to experience this with the Critical Mass bike rides and others in the cycling community that I’ve been meeting recently. I plan on doing some group rides now that I think I can keep up with them. Kevin and Jo from the Charlotte bike messenger crowd are amazing people that’d I look forward to hanging out with a lot more. Jeff, from Spirited Cyclist, and others from that community as well. And friends of my wife who are involved in the art community. These are all really high-quality people of the highest caliber that I sincerely want to hang out with any time.
While it is true that I did give up live streaming before and then later returned to it this time feels different, much more permanent. The reason has mostly to do with discovering a way to capture those moments creatively, without distraction, and without invading the privacy of those with whom I might build an in-person friendship. In fact, looking back at outdoor IRL streaming in general makes me wince. I hope I haven’t damaged too many relationships by doing it. I’m never going back.