Why Facebook is Killing Cigar Culture
youngryan216
Posts: 1,127 ✭✭✭
Why Facebook is killing cigar culture: Boobs, mold, and $20 Ligas.
The Internet has changed the dynamics of quite a few industries over the last few years. None was transformed more interestingly than the cigar industry. Once a face-to-face exchange at local tobacco stores, cigar buying has forced savvy consumers onto bidding websites and other online conglomerates in search of the best prices.
One by-product of this online shift is the burgeoning presence of cigar-related social media. Many cigar websites have their own forums for users to share content and Instagram has a decent clique of cigar lovers that share cigar pics and often, short reviews of recently smoked stogies.
None of these media outlets is more detrimental to cigar culture than Facebook groups. The largest groups are nothing more than bragging boards for mid-life-crisising 40 somethings, or con men coyly begging for handouts from established members.
The typical day of posts for one of these groups includes: gratuitous boob and ass pictures that objectify the women pictured and occasionally feature a cigar in the frame somewhere, endless arguments about if a Cuban cigar is real or fake (generally, if you have to ask, it’s fake), and endless arguments about mold versus plume (generally, if you have to ask, it’s mold).
In one case, a male member added an attractive female smoker to one of these groups and within weeks she left the group from the sheer amount of harassment and **** pics in her inbox.
I am absolutely sick of this behavior and disrespect for this pastime many hold in great reverence. Cigar smoking has gone from something cerebral to participate in socially, to something you post pictures of and brag about on social media. This “brag culture,” even more than the T&A pictures, is a cancer on the heart of cigar culture. It shows newbies that cigar smoking is all about chasing rare smokes and overspending on Liga Privada. It shows non-smokers that smokers are materialistic / chauvinistic loudmouths that love guns and boobs more than we love being thoughtful and classy. I’ve even seen people posting pictures of themselves smoking the band. What is going on in our culture? Do we need so much attention on the label of what we are smoking that we need to smoke it and post a picture on social media?
The hobby has been minimized to something very much based on the amount of money spent by the smoker and not the evolution of the palate or the passing on of knowledge and traditions to future generations of smokers.
It’s hard to picture Winston Churchill posting his stash on Facebook. It just seems like things have shifted in our hobby and the douchebags have taken over. Maybe I’m getting a little too get-off-my-lawn here, but posting your whole collection on social media is like the cigar version of a **** pic.
Smokers that do truly “get it,” understand the culture of giving and inclusion that is sadly missing in this group of social mutants, braggadocios and beggars. I am really hoping things change, but right now I’m removing myself from these groups and would advise anyone who cares about the longevity of our culture to do the same.
-Ryan Young
Comments
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And yes, I too love me some boobs. I just don't think I'll be posting my wife's sweater cows holding a $3 stick anytime soon.
"I'm at the point in my life where if it doesn't taste good,I'm not putting it in my mouth"
I don't do facebook.
This seems to be the direction culture is taking in general. We're becoming vacuous, egocentric, and crass on a grand scale. One of those repeating cycles in history, usually followed by a serious come-uppance.
Worrisome.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter
Personally I think the cigar industry is leading everyone down this path. With all of the social media, crazy packaging, high prices, limited edition, special releases and celebrity branding people buy up cigars just so they can post a pic of the $30 smoke or a HTF release. I don't think its a bad thing, but it does open the door for a lot of DBag's.
Like everything else about this hobby, it is subjective. Smoke what you like, read what you want, buy what you want to smoke
My favorite cigar list here
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter
Don't you wanna be cool?
Facebook is killing Culture - period!
My feed is primarily pictures of what people ate for dinner, cat videos, disgusting videos of people popping things on their body. It started out as a great idea and has gone downhill ever since.
Personally, I only do ccom as my cigar related social media. No twitter, instagram or whatever. I don't get on facebook much and when I do it's to catch up with my old high school alumni. Our last HS reunion is what got me onto facebook in the first place. And, that's all I have really used it for to this point.
Also, I agree with Ryan
I'm going to stick to ccom (for life!) and also I'll keep doing my short reviews on instagram, but I can't do Facebook cigar media I guess. It's too infuriating and vapid. Not that Facebook itself isn't both of those things, it's just killing the hobby for me and I have to stop the slideshow of idiots.
My question is, do I post my rant on their page before I remove myself?
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter
what's next, you gonna tell me the sky is blue and grass is green? whoa now!
but yeah facebook was good about 10 years ago when it was just college kids and you had to have an .edu account to join.
now it's just spam from slack-jawed-yokels just spewing hot aired nonsense.
only thing i find it useful for is organizing events with big groups of friends.
i imagine it'll go the way of friendster and myspace soon enough.
if you do decide to post your rant over there, just be sure to use small words - don't wanna confuse those poor souls
(and be sure to share the responses over here, i can always use a good chuckle.)
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
Me, I don't play.
That last sentence almost made me fall out of chair, I have to say that I too share that sentiment.
MOW badge received.
Nothing has meaning beyond that which that you give it.
This scenario seems to be congruent for me for every phase of my life--there are cliques, there are braggarts, there are objectifiers, etc. I do my own thing, they do theirs.
I am like some of the others who posted about being isolated--I make efforts to be a true BOTL, including: encouraging, herfing, making the occasional gift--and I try to teach decency and kindness in my life in general. My city has no lounges, is not friendly to smoking of any kind, and is predominantly a majorly conservative religious culture (read anti smoking/drinking).
Ccom is without a doubt fantastic. C2 is a far second, but absolutely has let me meet some stand up people, as well as lined up some HTF (to me) sticks at fair deals. With C2 (and FB in general), I just try and remember that FOMO is BS, and that I am in no way in competition with anyone. I get to walk my own path.
I really do think there are yahoos in every group, club, and fellowship. The key is being able to weed through the whackadoodles and find the gems.
I too vote you stay here on Ccom
-Jay
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter