[texbirds] Re: Reporting rare birds on Texbirds
- From: Tom Sykes <dhandler68@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:56:40 -0600
As a birding listserv owner myself (Wisconsin Birding Network - WISBIRDN) I've
been following this thread with some interest. A few observations based on my
experience as a birder and a listserv owner:
Prior to the Internet as we know it today, birders kept in touch via a local
club or through a loose organization of like-minded birding friends by
spreading relevant bird information by word of mouth. To get the word out to as
many birders as possible, some organizations started and maintained a birding
telephone hot line with a recorded messages (usually changed weekly) about
unusual or rare bird sightings. The upside to a telephone hotline was that more
birders knew or learned about unusual sightings. The downside was that the
information was dated, and/or, accessing the information might require a long
distance call.
Then technology took an impressive leap forward. First there was the advent of
personal computers followed by the creation of listservs. Information flowed
much more quickly as the need for a telephone hotline decreased. For a time
both listservs and telephone hotlines existed but as more and more birders
acquired personal computers, the telephone hotline was deemed antiquated.
Still, I recall many heated discussions about the demise of telephone
hotlines…in many ways similar to what's being debated at the present with
regard to listservs and Facebook.
Now there are smartphones. Twitter. Instant messaging. Texting. Video chats.
All useful technologies but for the most part these technologies are used to
instantly alert birders about a rare or unusual sighting. But what do these
technologies not accomplish? They don't foster or provide a venue for comments
and discussion about places to bird, places to eat while birding, birding
books, tips on bird IDs, birding equipment and software, and most importantly,
encouraging novice birders with thoughtful and varied conversations about birds
and birding in general.
Debates about inclusiveness, birding ethics, and a whole host of other hot
button topics will continue regardless of which technology is used to debate
them. In this day and age any birder who doesn't possess some working knowledge
of multiple technologies, just like those who never got beyond telephone
hotlines, will lose out. Likewise, those birders who narrow their birding by
demanding only rare bird alerts will lose as well.
To sum up, an individual birder's preference of a specific technology is what
will eventually determine whether a listserv or Facebook - or some future
technology - will dominate or even survive. As a listserv owner and long time
user, there are certain benefits to a listserv that Facebook lacks. And
Facebook, especially with its convenience of posting photos, has an edge. But I
have no illusions that listservs will always rule supreme. What it will boil
down to is which technology a majority of Texas birders will feel most
comfortable using…and that's where the others will follow.
Cheers,
Tom Sykes
dhandler68@xxxxxxxxx
(currently in Missiion, TX)
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