We all know that one-upmanship on social media is stupid and dangerous, making people attempt dangerous things for . But now we may have stats to prove it. The Los Angeles County Sheriff鈥檚 Department Search and Rescue team reports that its missions have increased by 38 percent over the last five years鈥攕omething they attribute to people sharing photos and videos of their dangerous activities online.
That department ran 681 SAR missions in 2017, its highest number ever, up from聽491 in 2013. L.A. County is home to numerous outdoor hotspots, from beaches聽to 50-foot waterfalls to slot canyons to聽10,000-foot mountains. The cops attribute some of the increase in SAR work to social media and other online tools that reveal previously little-known spots to the masses. They also blame people who try聽to mimic dangerous stunts they see online or to impress their followers with new ones.
鈥淧eople will post videos of themselves jumping off of Hermit Falls or the Malibu rock pool, and they post it in the springtime when there鈥檚 a decent amount of water. But now, the water is a lot less, so what used to be a 10-foot pool is now a 5-foot pool,鈥 Michael Leum, of the Sheriff鈥檚 Office, told . 鈥淵ou won鈥檛 want to be a lawn dart going into that shallow pool.鈥
The county has closed many dangerous locations in recent years, but signs often aren鈥檛 enough to discourage people determined to find an epic spot聽they鈥檝e found online. I used to be one of those people. A few years ago, friends and I watched a video of people cliff jumping in Eaton Canyon, in the San Gabriel Mountains, then set out to re-create what we鈥檇 watched. Going off-trail to make our way into the waterfalls, we scaled a dangerous cliff with the aid of tree roots and a sketchy rope put up by strangers before reaching the base of the upper falls. The water was low and聽the climb up the falls was too difficult since we鈥檇 failed to bring ropes, so we decided to call it quits. But we still risked our lives just to make our social media presence look a little more exciting. I鈥檓 glad I know better now.
By venturing off-trail in a high-use area, we also contributed to soil erosion. Robert Garcia, the fire chief for Angeles National Forest explains: 鈥淭rails are designed with mitigation and resource protection in mind, so user-created trails don鈥檛 have that level of planning.鈥
He also suggests that social media is drawing unprepared people to outdoor locations that require experience, planning, and proper equipment to navigate safely. People are venturing into what鈥檚 actually a pretty challenging environment without tools, adequate footwear, proper clothing, flashlights, or even drinking water. The Times relates the story of a 19-year-old who got lost, found himself on top of a waterfall by accident, while wearing tennis shoes, then slipped and fell 50 feet. He broke his tailbone and pelvis.
That kid was lucky. Just two months ago, I wrote a story about three members of Canadian social media collective High on Life,聽who died when they were swept over a waterfall聽while trying to create content for their popular Instagram account and YouTube channel.
Writing this, I kind of feel like a dad asking his child if they鈥檇 jump off a cliff just because their friends did. But that is literally the advice I鈥檓 trying to impart. Likes on social media are never worth your life.