For those of you who don’t know, I don’t use the Geocaching app. When I started caching, it was perfectly fine, but it was lacking a function I eventually needed so I forked over a few bucks for Cachly and it has been more than worth it for the six years I’ve been using it. Over those years, the main app has been closing the gap, adding new stuff here and there until it has a couple functions that even Cachly doesn’t have (though not the one I changed for in the first place, but whatever). This also means that I’m a little behind on said updates since I don’t use the main app. Consequently, while I had heard that the ability to hide caches with the app was coming, I hadn’t actually seen it until yesterday.
I have for a long time thought that one of the issues with new cachers sticking around is that because it’s so easy to get into caching, it’s just as easy to get out of it. I’m not trying to get people stuck in like with a gym membership or anything, but you see my point. People invest time and energy in their hobbies and if they put nothing into it, they have little or no reason to stick with it (I’m not advocating for sunk cost fallacy here). While I think having an app for caching is great (I find it invaluable), I also think it means that some folks download it, find (or don’t find) a cache or two, and then let it go by the wayside without giving it more of a thought. No, I don’t have a solution for this (if I did, I’d probably be working for HQ) but it’s also not what I’m trying to discuss. My point here (and I do have one) is that I’m a little worried about how making hides in the the app is going to work out in that regard. I have no doubts that it might be a boon for serious cachers (though I feel more seasoned or prolific cachers will stick to the methods they have used so successfully up to this point), but I’m worried about an explosion of brand new cachers with no experience making hides because they think it’s cool. I can only speak for myself but I believe I was at over a hundred finds before I attempted my first hide. HQ recommends fifty. Before in-app hiding, you had to do a little reading and some basic learning to even get to the point where you can hide a cache. Now it seems almost too simple. And while I’m all about making things easier and more streamlined (Am I lazy or efficient? Yes.), I’m totally imagining a newbie easily filling an entire neighborhood with crap hides because they can and then not maintaining them, or just getting bored and quitting with five finds and seventy-five hides, or something else similar.
Maybe I’m being paranoid. Maybe I’m not. Time will tell. Keep an eye out.
Geocaching While Black 