I think it is obvious convergence is getting worse in quantity and quality- just like national parks are now packed to the scuppers with the wrong kind of people. It is the age of trends, gratification, attention seeking, and shallow behavior.
Convergence seems especially problematic in TX, OK, KS where there are plenty of large metro areas within a few hours drive, and not as many other distractions like the coast or mountains- nearly every chase I can remember being within an hour of a decent sized town, there are many hundreds of people out whenever SPC or popular people hype up the day- never fails. Even for garbage setups with terrible surface winds that you just know will struggle to have anything photogenic or interesting, if SPC puts up a moderate or our favorite celebrity chasers speak, the droves increase. So many of the people out chase dots on SN, or are out there for social time and deliberately converge. Many seem to have a chase team, brand, or noticeable vehicle which speaks volumes in some cases.
The prevalence of cheap and easy streaming and the social media, dopamine based reward loop most people seem to thrive on has made it all so much worse on average over the last few years. It seems pretty easy to predict which days will have mass convergence: SPC, metro nearby, media hype. Weekend? x5
While numbers of people who do this are on average increasing, the behavior is what really strikes me as worse in relatively short amount of time. People blocking roads, hanging out windows, extreme aggression to get a few car lengths ahead on muddy roads- all for nothing. People are competing out there, acting like they are unique and going to see something that the other 100 in the line aren't. Too many are not remembering these roads are fair use for everyone, including locals, slow grandmas, people with bad tires or heavy loads, etc. No one has a right to block, rush, intimidate, or otherwise behave towards others but many chaser have that self important attitude and are doing these things regularly. 99.9% of the footage and photos I see are trash- shaky low quality junk with no style or art or technical understanding of photography or videography. All too many people care about is getting close and getting attention. Stringing is a net money losing proposition these days except for the best of the best. All of the private research or instrumentation vehicles I have seen are completely fake, done without scientific rigor or any kind of safety- again more attention seeking. Nothing out there legitimizes this behavior but it is increasing. Bottom line is we are in the full age of instant gratification and imbecility, and that cross section is represented in chasing like everywhere else.
There certainly seems to be a lot of drama and dysfunction in the 'community; if it could be called that, and so I prefer to think of myself as a storm photographer and hang to the fringes, if not just for my chase success, but also for dignity. Petty and conceited? Probably, but it makes me feel better than to be part of those savages surfing the hook on some rain wrapped garbage in an aggressive line of cars 100 long.
