I found this great article today called "Social Ghost Hunting" by Steve Parsons (2013)
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It succinctly put into words the workings of many modern day ghost hunting groups.
Here is an excerpt, but I suggest you read the whole link -
"But what has this revolution in social done for ghost investigation? These days when someone decides to form a paranormal investigation group they rarely, if ever begin by researching and investigating some interesting haunted location as a group. No, they are much more likely to start off (once they come up with a name) by designing their Facebook page, setting up their YouTube channel and then their Twitter account. They announce to the World that they exist and beg for 'likes' or 'follows' in order to establish themselves in a World bursting with other paranormal teams all doing the same. This isn't in itself a bad thing because quite simply they are responding to the pressure, the expectation that in order to be a paranormal investigator they have to do these things. They have to say something and they have to constantly feed that expectation with endless new information in the form of titbits and trailers for their investigations. They also use the social media to seek out cases to investigate, advertising for people with haunted houses to get in touch if they want a serious and scientific investigation to be carried out. Nowadays groups rarely just set-off to investigate an interesting location alone either, social media has allowed them to share the cost and their new found knowledge and expertise with others - at a price, they set up events and investigations, promoting them to those willing to pay by the same social media channels.
Regardless of if they are taking unsuspecting members of the public or simply members of their own happy band the World is informed days, often weeks in advance of their 'exciting plans' new experiments and more often than not the location too. These posts are usually met with lots of likes and comments from team members "Can't Wait"... or those who would love to go "Can I come?" but the majority are from those who obviously won't be going as they live hundreds of miles "Sorry, would love to come but I live in the Outer Hebrides"; those who have been to the location before with another group "Great location, I got touched by a shadow person on the stairs" and those who desire to share the fact that they too are out ghost hunting that same night "Would love to come but I'm running a charity ghost hunt at The Tower of London". However, the majority of responses are from the mindless herd who click 'Like' to everything !! As the big day draws nearer, the team posts regular reminders ostensibly for those attending or offering the last few places because of a cancellation "Inbox me or DM me if interested" but also they are neat ways of letting everyone know that you're going ghost hunting on Saturday."
Indeed, very true! I myself on many occasions have rushed home after a night of investigating busting to put my pictures on my facebook page. There is such a feeling of needing to prove to others that you are doing something very important. There is really no point in investigating and not telling anyone about it - is there? Can investigative groups work in total confidentiality? Not if you have built up a following..
(http://
It succinctly put into words the workings of many modern day ghost hunting groups.
Here is an excerpt, but I suggest you read the whole link -
"But what has this revolution in social done for ghost investigation? These days when someone decides to form a paranormal investigation group they rarely, if ever begin by researching and investigating some interesting haunted location as a group. No, they are much more likely to start off (once they come up with a name) by designing their Facebook page, setting up their YouTube channel and then their Twitter account. They announce to the World that they exist and beg for 'likes' or 'follows' in order to establish themselves in a World bursting with other paranormal teams all doing the same. This isn't in itself a bad thing because quite simply they are responding to the pressure, the expectation that in order to be a paranormal investigator they have to do these things. They have to say something and they have to constantly feed that expectation with endless new information in the form of titbits and trailers for their investigations. They also use the social media to seek out cases to investigate, advertising for people with haunted houses to get in touch if they want a serious and scientific investigation to be carried out. Nowadays groups rarely just set-off to investigate an interesting location alone either, social media has allowed them to share the cost and their new found knowledge and expertise with others - at a price, they set up events and investigations, promoting them to those willing to pay by the same social media channels.
Regardless of if they are taking unsuspecting members of the public or simply members of their own happy band the World is informed days, often weeks in advance of their 'exciting plans' new experiments and more often than not the location too. These posts are usually met with lots of likes and comments from team members "Can't Wait"... or those who would love to go "Can I come?" but the majority are from those who obviously won't be going as they live hundreds of miles "Sorry, would love to come but I live in the Outer Hebrides"; those who have been to the location before with another group "Great location, I got touched by a shadow person on the stairs" and those who desire to share the fact that they too are out ghost hunting that same night "Would love to come but I'm running a charity ghost hunt at The Tower of London". However, the majority of responses are from the mindless herd who click 'Like' to everything !! As the big day draws nearer, the team posts regular reminders ostensibly for those attending or offering the last few places because of a cancellation "Inbox me or DM me if interested" but also they are neat ways of letting everyone know that you're going ghost hunting on Saturday."
Indeed, very true! I myself on many occasions have rushed home after a night of investigating busting to put my pictures on my facebook page. There is such a feeling of needing to prove to others that you are doing something very important. There is really no point in investigating and not telling anyone about it - is there? Can investigative groups work in total confidentiality? Not if you have built up a following..
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