Social Media @GlacierNPS

A person in a coat and hat photographs sunrise over mountains with a lake in the foreground. — How you post about Glacier National Park can have real-world consequences. NPS PHOTO

An iphone taking a picture of sunset with illustrated lines and squiggles come out of the phone and write, "epic, adventure, rad, and stoked!"

Reduce the Impact of Social Media

Social media have a bigger impact on wild places than you might think. Behaviors, that alone have very little impact on the environment, are spread and amplified on social media.

Encourage positive behavior! Posting about conservation, leave no trace, and safety helps spread and support the mission of the National Park Service. If you tag us #ProtectGlacier on a post about conservation, leave no trace, or safety we might feature you. Negative behavior in a National Park is not great. But promoting negative behavior on social media is much worse! Please don't approach wildlife and extra please don't post pictures that encourage others to do so!

Share locations thoughtfully. Avoid giving directions to sensitive areas off trail. Consider the impacts a location geotag might have on a sensitive environment before posting.

Consider Glacier's remote alpine peaks, fragile environments with a preciously short growing season, that were once only rarely visited by mountaineers. Today, social media has sensationalized several of these remote mountain tops, and crowds of off-trail hikers are each posting their own location-tagged photo from the top, spreading the word.

Be mindful of what your images portray. Do you really want to share illegal or unsafe behavior? You might like to free-solo up mountains without a helmet or whitewater raft without a life jacket but be cautious about promoting dangerous activities without context. Also, don’t be the person who posts a selfie while feeding wildlife. If park staff sees those kinds of posts you may receive a citation in the mail.

Do you have a permit for that? Commercial services are carefully regulated in National Parks because no one wants to see these wild places overrun with advertising. Commercial photographers, product ambassadors, influencers, and other marketers should check out Glacier’s Permits page for more information.

Facebook
Photos, park programs, and up-to-date information are posted daily. Share your photos, memories, and park experiences with us!

Instagram
We feature posts with conservation, leave no trace, and safety messages. Tag us with #ProtectGlacier for a chance to be featured. Gracie, our wildlife working dog, also has an instagram that you've just got to follow, @BarkRangerNPS.