Ah folk music via Youtube and social media, hmmmmmm, I somehow doubt it. As Jim Carroll has been trying to put across what "folk music" is it would appear that he is met with arguments and points of view of those who are being deliberately obtuse.

Now it would appear the way forward is predicated upon owning a laptop, Tablet, I-pad, Smart-phone, or whatever. Now that means that I do not have to trawl through the absolute mountain of absolutely horrendous renditions of songs and tunes that you can find on Youtube, etc, because let's face it you are listening to a recording and if you are listening to a recording you might as well listen to the "original" [Example: If you can listen to Paul Brady sing and play "Arthur MacBride" why on earth would you ever want to listen to Joe Bloggs halting and hesitant rendition of the same song].

If I go to a "folk club" I do rather naively expect to hear folk songs, however it has been a long, long time since that was the case and even in "folk sessions" now we get people ridiculing Folk music as "that miserable, boring stuff" and declaring they "If people sing it it is "folk"" and yet another evening, afternoon is lost to 60s and 70s "pop" songs that are basically "busked" because those playing and those joining in can only remember one-an-a-half verses and the chorus. This weakness they try to cover by stringing songs together as a medley. But here modern technology comes to their aid as you see the ranks of tablets, I-pads and phones come out and these "performers" can now deliver a complete song that they cannot be arsed to actually learn by reading through the lyrics, with appropriate stops to scroll down the page of their "absolutely essential, can't play without it device".

Folk Clubs will survive for those who want to listen to "folk music", hopefully those who ruined it will be enticed from the scene by concentrating of churning out their dross in the privacy of their own homes to throw out there to be discovered and forgotten on Youtube, Facebook, etc.