Why do you use StokeReport?

I'm a reporter. John & I were talking about this before he started Stokereport - it just seemed like a great idea to get live surf reports from people at the beach, instead of once a day via surfpulse.

What's been great (and unexpected) is to get a sense of community that comes from hearing how everyone's session went, various surf concerns, and watching a day of surfing unfold at OB. I love hearing what's going on as the tide changes etc etc EVEN if I am stuck at work. Living vicariously baby.

I guess I got into surfing too late to be much worried about the ethics of surf reporting. Surf reports existed when I started, and they exist now. I have started refraining from reporting from smaller locations that can't handle a crowd, but OB luckily can handle lots o' people.

i'm a logger. i do it for the sense of community and I do it post-sesh to keep it real. i check the site because some people's postings are funny and/or wack which brightens my day. like it has been said previously, i only comment on OB though because it can take it and it's no secret at this stage in the game. i genuinely want people to get waves, cause happy people are mellow people.

I'm a logger. If I have a great session, I'll share. Likewise, if I get the beatdown..and it's sucks, no need for others to waste time off work...or gas trying to get out to the beach.

Keep in mind guys...Wise does a great report 3x per day....and they've been doing it for years. I listen to their report, check stokereport.com and all the other sites and cams...and if it sounds ok, I go. Stokereport.com is just one resource...out of many. It's the most friendly though, as it's got a sense of community.

BTW, if OB was a point break, I probably wouldn't share info. re: my sessions so freely.

I use stokereport mainly because of the local focus. Every post is about a spot within reach. Every poster might be someone from the lineup. Oh yeah, I also like how easy it is to post via twitter -- it's a super-clean easy way of sharing a report. I like it so much I wrote a blog post about it: http://greacen.com/greacen/?post=1196

I also like the vibe. It's positive. Everyone wants to be surfing and that helps me get out of bed in the AM. The comments and followup are witty and fun.

I've been registered for ~a year. I just recently noticed my face in that top poster section, but I'm probably more of a logger (than a gamer). I love the taxonomy @alimills.

First, I have to say that I'm super impressed with @alimills's breakdown of user profiles (I never thought I'd write those words on Stokereport). You totally nailed the type of users that probably frequent this site.

Its also really interesting that nobody has identified themselves as a "gamer". I think that just about sums up why I enjoy this site. Its all about the community. The rants, the imperfect personal reports, the self deprecating humor about our many misadventures in the water, and the spread of stoke for those of us not at the beach.

I'm a new member and consider myself a casual logger (via web) but would comfortably fall into the role of reporting if I could figure out how to report with Twitter. @greacen?

Yep, Logger and occasional & infrequent Reporter. Find myself just wanting to get in the water too badly to spend time reporting before I get in, but like @pickle_sf & @RashGuard, I enjoy sharing the sesh w/others. Also 100% agree w/their point about posting about OB but not at smaller &/or lesser known spots that can't handle a crowd.

Really enjoying the community aspect of it, and you admins that keep the trolls away. Gracias.

I'm more of a lurker, I read the reports and rants but rarely post. I have my spots that I go to regardless of the reports but I enjoy reading about the stoke of others while i'm at work. As someone said earlier I'm living vicariously through you guys when i'm dying to be at the beach but stuck in a cubicle. I like reading through the rants too, some funny stuff.

I don't think there is anything unethical about sharing conditions at a beach like OB or Linda Mar... they're gonna be crowded anyways.

I'm glad you posted this rant, @alimills, i was thinking the exact same thing when i saw that comment.

In terms of category, depending on the day, i fit into any of them (except gamer - there's a leader board?).

It's a great little community that's sprung up here, with an interesting cast of characters. It's probably my favorite site to kill time on when I'm feeling lazy.

I'm always kind of surprised that people still think a surf report will affect the numbers at the beach. Does anyone seriously think that a good report will cause 50 people to drop what they're doing and head to that specific peak? If only this site had that power! Maybe 4 people, if you're lucky, and by time they drive to the beach and suit up, you'll probably be paddling in anyway.

More realistically, these surf reports will warn you not to waste your time if it sucks - or they'll help you make a better decision on timing and location.

You'll notice there are no ads on StokeReport. John learned early that volumes would never climb that high, but decided to keep it going as a labor of love.

It's all about the love baby. Share it.

I was a lurker for awhile, like @thizzy. (Time for a new user profile: Lurker?). Then I opted out of free-rider status to become a "Ranger": a ranter/logger. Like some others here, I'm salivating too much to report. But I like to add offbeat, on-topic thoughts, links, and the like. Kinda my way of paying back for the info consumed.

Stokereport is the only online forum where I've actively and repeatedly participated. It's because, as others have noted, the vibe is upbeat and supportive. One important question is why? I have seen outright vehemence at other surfer forums. But not here. In fact, there seems to be a tendency to police toward the positive on Stokereport. Is it because it's easier for us to learn who the bodies behind the online identities are since the chances are high that we may meet each other at OB or other local spots? Any thoughts?

The fact that most of our users aren't anonymous definately adds to the sense of community. For some stokereporters, it's pretty hard not to spot them in the lineup. You can hear cryptomail laughing over the shorebreak from like a quarter mile out. I've had a few people hit me up via twitter to say they saw me and my longboard out at Linda Mar. Knowing most of the folks are out to have fun, then seeing it in action, def reinforces a positive vibe.

Also, the twitter component of the site means we quickly get connected with eachother, our side projects and surf stories. I had no idea so many other bay area designers surfed but sure enough half my twitter feed is now surfing designers. Crazy.

I come here for the personal reports. I like to know how folks out at the beach see the surf (and then I adjust for skill) and I'm always happy to hear someone got in a kick ass sesh. I'd count myself as both a logger and vicarious participant. On the rare occasion when I'm stuck behind a desk (like today), I dig reading the updates and I'm more than happy to cheer people on.

Hey sh0wn, re: posting via twitter:
1. follow @stokereport (http://twitter.com/stokereport)
2. mention the location code in your tweet (http://stokereport.com/locations)
3. profit!
I thought this was in the faq at one point, but I can't find it anymore. Hope this is still a real feature.

A few deets here: http://greacen.com/greacen/?post=1196

I have close to 400 "karma" points but I hardly ever report. I have no idea how that happened.

Logger - due to the fact that I'm usually at the beach to surf and am too rushed to report prior to jumping in.

Found the site offline and this made a big difference. There is a nice little community here with the surf stoke ethos splattered all over the reports and rants. Everyone seems in it for the right reasons, and I like that. As for reports, I appreciate the personal filter, however flawed. I know I've looked at OB and thought one thing only to paddle out and experience something completely different. 1st person reports give that insight, and thus far the reports I've read seem genuine.

I add my own opinion/report to soothe the feelings of being a complete leech. I leave it up to you to listen or completely disregard. I don't put reports up on other sites due in large part to the stoke ethos I find here. You're the kind of folks I want to fire up for surf, or save from wasting valuable free time. The grumpy masses can figure it out on their own.

@over_the_falls: your karma score is calculated from your recent activity. this includes good commenting, voting, ranting and reporting. good means other people dug what you did. if you've got a high score, you're doing things right. nice job :)

I too find myself mostly to be a Logger, as I love sharing the stoke. That is what makes this site better than any other: it's about sharing the stoke. As I ranted about recently, surfing makes us good people, and so it's good to share each other's positive vibes. Nothing better than bumping into other stokereporters in the parking lot, to swap suggestions on timing for tides and wind, and so on and so forth.
Keep it going guys. I gotta give major good vibes to the (from my perspective) unknown guys running this site. Ad-free, just up there for good fun. Right on.

@sh0wn ... it's easy to report via twitter, here's how.

I love beating duckdive to the first report of the morning. :-)

I also use stoke report to try to get as much exposure as possible to any breaks where I have encountered localism. For San Francisco, this means I will always report on ###### and Dead Man's. A small way to get back at the few lame-os out there who think they can "own" a surf spot. I would far rather have a friendly and stoked crowd than a few negative loosers in the lineup.

I loooooooove stoke report!

Oh, and I also kind of disagree with what mauro said (http://stokereport.com/report/4552#comments). I'm trying to beat the crowd, sure (and I did this morning btw), but OB never really gets crowded, especially weekday mornings, especially when it's big, at least not all over the whole beach. I'm encouraging the (stoked) crowd. I doubt stoke report has a huge impact on crowd numbers anyway. People will get their information from many sources and Stoke Report is but one.

I also love stoke report's twitter integration and it is one of the main reasons I use the site. I update three sites at once: twitter, SR and Facebook, so my friends etc have some idea of what I've been up to on top of the Stoke Reporters.

@lee: lol on ###### point revenge report. love it. share the love. keep the stoke flowing and kudos to anyone that beats me to the am report :)

Anytime there is big swell and low tide in the AM, i'm on it. Sometimes afternoons too, although they get crowded and i prefer not to take off work early.

i don't really surf much anymore but i like to keep track of the swells and check out pics. keep it up doods!

Great job on the categories, @alimills!

I guess that makes me a logger (even though I've only logged once). I've been reading the report ever since I happened to meet @stokereport somewhere near ###### last winter (nice guy -- he also took a pretty sweet pic of me on a small day and was kind enough to send me the high rez file.)

I just love the sense of community, hearing about other people's stoke and trials and tribulations in dealing w/ the paddle out. It's good to know that I'm not the only one that needs to get charged up to face that paddle. But fair is fair, and the payoff is 99.9% of the time well worth the price of admission.

Keep the stoke, OB bros.

@stokereport, now it all makes sense, thanks! Anyway, as a beginner, I like reading the reports as a way to better understand how the various spots work, and how other people with more experience handle the conditions. That "tips for getting out at OB" thread from a few days ago was especially interesting to read.

lurker and ranter here

I disagree, lee. Ocean beach can handle a crowd to an extent, but there were at least 2 days in the last week where I would say it was too crowded for its own good. Big days like yesterday are not a problem. Head high, perfect days are. So I'd disagree that Ocean Beach can't get too crowded, but it's really a matter of opinion in the end.

I do agree that it's great to spread good feelings, and I try to do that wherever i go, including the beach. I also agree that it's fun to brag after a good day and to get sympathy and commiseration after getting skunked. I prefer to do it on a smaller scale than a public website with potentially 1000s of strangers, so I leave the surf reporting to the pros like Bill SImon and duckdive.

I think it's impossible to know what the effect of this site is on crowds, unless the hit reports here are modest. I know I've gone on days I normally wouldn't have because the reports here are positive and it sounds like everyone is getting it but me. I think it's safe to say that there's a chance it increases the crowds. I hope and want to believe it doesn't in any appreciable way -- I hate crowds as much as i hate territorial pricks and I do like this site. So all in all, I am and will remain a lurker here.

I pretty much hit it every day I can unless stokereport unstokes me. It saves me from getting skunked. And save me dinosaur juice.

I was a lurker for many months and then I recently decided to put my big boy pants on and to start posting...so now I'm a logger. I agree with saltychump in that I try to hit it everyday unless the conditions look so shitty that it's not worth the drive to the beach, and stokereport keeps me home when I should be home and out when I should be out.

I typically log a post after my session, (whether I was killing it, or whether I got my ass kicked out there). Just trying to pass the stoke along, and I don't think logging a post results in a mass flood of people to the beach. I dig the sense of community here and love hearing about other people's sessions, good or bad. Big thanks to whoever it is that maintains this site!

I haven't used MagicSeaWeed's eye's on it reporting, but to me the surfline one seems more like one person and a labor of love. If more than one person posts a report, then only the most recent report shows up. There's no incentive to comment on the surf more than once and one wouldn't want to step on any toes or possibly stop anyone else fomr posting.

Plus the focus there is less personal. Here it's all about the personal. I'm not just looking at data or a report handed down by the person "responsible" for it. I'm looking at real surfers I know are out there surfing their hearts out.