Will Social Media Improve Diving Skills?

[dumpsterDiver]

Kinda funny, I get used to wearing a head mounted Go-Pro and I become more self concious about doing stupid things.... I notice it most when I am NOT wearing it and find myself still thinking about "how this will look"...

I think people would find a dive video more interesting than some silly numbers on a graph...

 

[Slamfire]

I posted this one on facebook last week - got four likes and two comments:

[h=2]Wreck of the MT No. 6
[/h]
Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 2:12pm ·


Milwaukee Terminal No. 6
History: MT6 barge
Video: (from Feb 2009 - still looks pretty similar to how it looks in 2012) MT No. 6 on Vimeo

On October 7th, 2012 I dove the MT6 and was able to experience it with a whopping 10-15 ft of milky visibility. Everybody tells me this is exceptionally good for this wreck.

We followed the grapple line and found it lying at around 185 ft of depth on top of what looked like a plywood board. The milky visibility prevents you from taking in a panoramic view of the entire wreck. This is not like Florida's Hydro Atlantic, where it's all clear and bright and you see the wreck from far above. Deep, dark, cold and milky, that's what you can expect from wrecks in Elliot Bay, Seattle.

We descend down the line into darkness and come to a plywood board. I tie my reel line to the grapple line and head on out. Very quickly we find some plumose anemones and then go to the side edge of the boat. At the edge, I catch a quick glance of two fish that seemed to have some barbs--pacific cod? I also saw some black rockfish and thought I saw a metallic bluish boccacio rockfish among them.

I go back over the boat towards it's center and come across a very big and pale tiger rockfish. Soon after the rockfish there is a big hole that goes deep inside the wreck. We keep on going and find a huge cabezon sitting by an even bigger hole in the boat. I point my buddy to the fish and pretty soon it gets uncomfortable with us crowding around and goes into the hole which seems to go pretty deep into the boat.

At this point we're very close to the midpoint of our bottom time and my buddy gives me a turnaround signal. So I start winding back line to the grapple. Pretty soon we catch a glimpse of the strobe left there by the 2nd team in. We got back to the grapple earlier than expected and still have some bottom time so we follow the other teams line to see what they are up to. We caught up to them and see them taking some footage.

So we say hi and bye and head back to the grapple to start the ascent. Ascent goes well. My O2 first stage was leaking above the high pressure seat retainer, rather aggressively at first. So I move out the 50% bottle to a leash and put it on the back to clear up some room in case I need to do deco feathering the tank valve on and off. The leak diminishes as tank pressure drops below 2000 psi. At 1800 psi the leak is no more. I clear my deco and then do some more time just for the heck of it, while I'm watching the 2nd team do their deco below me.



It was a really nice dive and I intend to repeat it.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

There are definitely some ways social media can make a divier a better diver. They incolude:

---------- Post Merged at 09:13 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:05 AM ----------

I think the following are some ways that social media can definitely help divers become better divers:
1. Facilitating the location of dive buddies, leading to more active divers
2. Helping locate local dives clubs, again leading to more dive opportunities and more active divers
3. Forum discussions that can answer divers' question and refer them to resources that will broaden their knowledge and competence
4. Informative face book pages about dive destinations, dive trips, and dive centers that again can facilitate divers being active divers.

I think divers improve as divers by diving. Anything that encourages, stimulates, or facilitates being a more frequent diver is ok in my book, even if I am one of those older guys who is still catching up to the whole computer thing.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Scott L]

Kinda funny, I get used to wearing a head mounted Go-Pro and I become more self concious about doing stupid things.... I notice it most when I am NOT wearing it and find myself still thinking about "how this will look"...

I think people would find a dive video more interesting than some silly numbers on a graph...

I agree. I have zero interest in starring at a dive profile in which I stayed conscious. I was there, so why would I need a recap?

 

[spectrum]

There are definitely some ways social media can make a divier a better diver. They incolude:

---------- Post Merged at 09:13 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:05 AM ----------

I think the following are some ways that social media can definitely help divers become better divers:
1. Facilitating the location of dive buddies, leading to more active divers
2. Helping locate local dives clubs, again leading to more dive opportunities and more active divers
3. Forum discussions that can answer divers' question and refer them to resources that will broaden their knowledge and competence
4. Informative face book pages about dive destinations, dive trips, and dive centers that again can facilitate divers being active divers.

I think divers improve as divers by diving. Anything that encourages, stimulates, or facilitates being a more frequent diver is ok in my book, even if I am one of those older guys who is still catching up to the whole computer thing.
DivemasterDennis

My issue with Facebook is that it has such a broad brush. There are already means to do the things you describe like websites of clubs, and destination, discusison forums and so forth. Once you get into Facebook you alienate a significant group that dosen't want to be bothered with all of the prattle. If you chose to use it as an alternative means (for the FB junkies) then you have multiple communication streams and chaos. FB is more of a solution looking for a problem in this case. Just say no. I have a real issue with entrerprises that pass off a Facebook page in lieu of a decent informative Website.

Besides how many will air their dirty laundry?....... Here's the profile of the dive I totally botched to day!...... Not many I bet.

Pete

 

[TMHeimer]

I don't like those Facebook "websites" either. As far as botched profile-- I was figuring the same thing.

 

[John_B]

This will become possible sooner then you expect ..... most likely when we release the next version of the Predator Log Manager App in a couple of weeks

Really? Facebook profile uploads from a smartphone?

 

[boulderjohn]

Until fairly recently, I can't remember the last time I looked at the graph of a dive I did. That changed when I got a Predator--when I go to the logbook feature of the computer so I can record depth and time in my paper logbook (yes, that's what I do), it shows me a graph whether I want it or not. It's actually pretty cool to see how symmetrical things get on a cave dive. Other than that, the only time I looked closely at a graph of a dive was when two of my friends got bent, and they sent me the profile of that dive to look at. It was actually pretty informative, and it affected the way I dive. Other than that, I don't see the point in it.

With that starting point, I wonder what kind of a person would not only look at the graphs, but would also post them on FaceBook for friends to see. My guess would be that we would see a lot of people showing off the dives they did for bragging rights. That might not be a good thing. "Oh, look! George just did a 300 foot bounce dive on air! Cool! I'll click the like button and give it a go tomorrow!" I know a former ScubaBoard participant who would be posting dives like that at every opportunity. If by Social Media you mean a place like ScubaBoard where anyone in the world can look at the posting and critique it, it would be one thing, but if you are talking about something like FaceBook, where the viewing audience is your friends, that is another. Birds of a feather really do flock together.

 

[tdtaylor]

I enjoy SB, I don't have a Facebook account. And I am extremely computer literate, managing several websites in my leisure.

My Suuntos do download and provide profiles, which can be interesting, but only for a minute or two when looking for something specific. I do know that Suunto has a new Web interface, Movescount (Movescount.com - Powered by Suunto), where you can share your "moves" with others, whether they be a dive, bike ride, run, etc. I personally haven't found the site of interest, but I do know others that have throughly embraced the site.

 

[danvolker]

The best way for Social Media to improve diving skills, is for you to connect with more divers with similar interests and goals, and to buddy with them, and to dive more often...with these divers.