The Uneven Playing Field of Fishing Social Media

Let’s face it, we all love posting to social media to show off our catches and we feel good about receiving internet points. Though we all had that moment at some point where we feel our own accomplishments feel underappreciated compared to someone else. We felt proud of our best catch only to later see someone putting out lesser content but gaining more attention.

This is a topic that can really be applied to many hobbies though I will try to cater this post to fishing specifically. This is a sentiment that we all think about all the time yet it is not discussed out in the open often. I feel like this is a topic that I would like to discuss and share my thoughts on it. To preface, I am open to civil discussion and I would prefer if you read to the end if possible.

The Uneven Playing Field

As a content creator in multiple disciplines this is something that does affect me in some way. Some content will get more internet points than others and it’s certainly not correlated to skill or effort. People (and the algorithm) favor content based on other factors. In fishing, the angler is honestly the reason for the disparity. Certain types of anglers add a lot of value to the catch, sometimes more than it feels like it deserves. I’m sure we all know what kind of attributes get more attention.

Internet points are not the only area where a disparity is felt. Certain types of anglers are more or less prone to criticism. Too many times I’ve seen on social media where an angler is rightfully or not criticized for something that they posted. It could be the manner the picture is taken or the way the catch was handled. Then we would see the same actions performed by someone else get less or even no criticism. I’ve seen a picture win a contest where it was actually illegal to take a picture with the fish but it would have felt wrong to criticize the angler due to who they were. I’m sure we’ve all seen double standards in the fishing community, even though it’s not often talked about openly.

The hard cold truth is that the uneven playing field has always existed and will continue to exist. We feel like anglers should be rewarded based on the quality of their catch but that standard has been destroyed a long time ago.

Dealing with the Uneveness

Let’s be honest, catching fish is hard in general. We wake up early in the morning, fish hard, burn tons of fuel and hope everything works out. True some work harder than others but regardless of the catch, effort was put into it. True a person catching a big walleye on Lake Winnipeg isn’t as accomplished as someone who worked an entire day to catch one musky on Lake of the Woods. Catching the Lake Winnipeg walleye though is effort and it is an accomplishment that can be appreciated. Whether someone gets more internet points or not, at least they do deserve some appreciation for their efforts.

Now we are going venture into a more controversial area where it’s clear that there are some people who put a lot less effort into the catch. Like totally guided and put little investment into the catch aside from being there and reeling the fish in. We all know someone like that yet it sometimes their content gets a disproportionate amount of attention. Sometimes to the point they get promotional staff deals despite it feeling that many other anglers deserve it more. Sometimes there’s content that gets milked too hard and results in many reposts. In these situations I just take a look at the picture and move on, just like dozens or hundreds of others before me. Sure they may seem to get a disproportionate amount of attention but that’s not the angler’s fault. The general public is giving them the validation and that’s because they like the content. You don’t owe anyone likes or any kind of internet points and that’s totally fine.

At the same time, if you do see another content creator who seems underrated, do send them some form of appreciation. The quality of the catch is a standard that should still be upheld. You can do your part to even the playing field a little bit, even if it feels insignificant. Evening the playing field, even if it’s a little bit, is good for all anglers in the long term. By having a standard of quality catches, it will make us all strive to be better at fishing..

Work on Yourself

The unequal playing field of social media will never truly go away, no matter how we try. All you can really control is how you deal with it.

The world does feel unfair but one thing you should do is to not bring down others. Just move on and say nothing. Yes it does feel bad to feel underappreciated but sending hate comments will not help. It does feel easier to openly invalidate other people’s accomplishments but it won’t actually make you feel better. You will just end up tarnishing your own image and creating divide in your community. People have tried bringing me down and I certainly don’t think any better of them.

Instead spend that energy on working on yourself. I would rather think about ways that I can make myself better at fishing or creating better content. Perhaps my content is not actually good and I have to think of ways to be more creative. If I feel my relative lack of popularity is due to other anglers using their attributes for attention, I will become complacent. If you work hard enough, you might even be able to overcome the uneven playing field.

It does help to not feel threatened by other people’s success. Popularity isn’t completely a zero sum game. Perhaps someone gets a lot of likes but they aren’t really taking any away from you. Perhaps you don’t get featured on an Instagram page, just wait for the next round and maybe it will be your turned to be featured. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll create something great and you will become famous. Everyone has their unfair advantages, you’re just going to need to capitalize on your own.

Final Words

I’m really glad that I got this message out. In fact while writing it, it actually made me self reflect a lot and feel better about the uneven playing field. In fact I feel fired up to plan the next great fishing adventure.

I feel like this can be a loaded topic, almost like something that can be discussed on a podcast. If you have something to point out, feel free to use the comments. Though let’s keep this civil, I understand that it can feel heated at times.

Other than that, keep fishing and find the catch that will make you feel proud. Having validation from others feels nice but don’t make that the only reason you fish.