How to avoid being an Instagram-Facebook travel…
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| I'm here and you're not: Lakeland, Florida spring training, 2014 |
By Ellen Creager
When my kids were teens we had a rule about how much they should pay attention to celebrities.
"Think about them as much as they think about you," I said.
"MOM!" they would pout. But it worked.
This is the same rule that should apply to posting of vacation pictures on social media. If your Instagram pals or Facebook friends are constantly posting photos from their trips and adventures, never thinking of anyone except themselves and their own fabulous life, stop following them. Just stop.
Basically, when it comes to social media and travel, less is more. The more fantastic your trip, the less you should post.
I'm here, you're not
A 2015 study at the University of British Columbia found that the posting of travel photos “is a leading contributor to Facebook envy.” Seeing photos of other people’s fantastic trips makes Facebook users so anxious and envious that it leads to a “vicious cycle of jealousy and self-importance” that causes users to post whatever they can to try to convince the world that their own lives are just as exciting.
Another sad statistic? About 18% of the world’s beachgoers actually admit that they post photos from trips with the primary goal of making others jealous, an Expedia study found in 2014.
That may just be the worst reason of all for traveling. It cheapens the experience, making the trip not a joyous exploration but a mean, self-centered exercise in narcissism.
In addition, it makes you a travel bore.
It’s the equivalent of Uncle Harry in 1958 forcing neighbors to watch three hours of slides of his trip to St. Louis. Don’t let that be you.
Let kindness rule
When friends are on trips, I love seeing a few photos, just so I know they are safe and well.
I don’t have a problem with an Instagram collage or two of beautiful places.
Yet, if I am reporting from a hot destination while back home it’s 10 degrees, I post very little. Something funny? OK. Something gorgeous? I think twice.
And if you are a person who travels a lot, you must be most careful of all. You don’t have to trumpet every trip. You don’t have to post about trekking in Nepal followed by your cruise to Antarctica, followed by your craft beer tour of California, followed by daily posts from every national park in the United States of America followed by your quick weekend getaway to Paris.
Modesty is the best policy, unless you want to be boring, boring, travel boring — plus make friends and family feel sad and anxious.
Readers, respond
So let me ask you, readers, How many posts does it take before you unfollow a bragging traveler?
What are your rules about posting while on a trip? What are your thoughts? Most outrageous examples? Let me know and I will follow up this column in a couple weeks.
Contact Detroit Free Press Travel Writer Ellen Creager at ecreager@freepress.com.
When my kids were teens we had a rule about how much they should pay attention to celebrities.
"Think about them as much as they think about you," I said.
"MOM!" they would pout. But it worked.
This is the same rule that should apply to posting of vacation pictures on social media. If your Instagram pals or Facebook friends are constantly posting photos from their trips and adventures, never thinking of anyone except themselves and their own fabulous life, stop following them. Just stop.
Basically, when it comes to social media and travel, less is more. The more fantastic your trip, the less you should post.
I'm here, you're not
A 2015 study at the University of British Columbia found that the posting of travel photos “is a leading contributor to Facebook envy.” Seeing photos of other people’s fantastic trips makes Facebook users so anxious and envious that it leads to a “vicious cycle of jealousy and self-importance” that causes users to post whatever they can to try to convince the world that their own lives are just as exciting.
Another sad statistic? About 18% of the world’s beachgoers actually admit that they post photos from trips with the primary goal of making others jealous, an Expedia study found in 2014.
That may just be the worst reason of all for traveling. It cheapens the experience, making the trip not a joyous exploration but a mean, self-centered exercise in narcissism.
In addition, it makes you a travel bore.
It’s the equivalent of Uncle Harry in 1958 forcing neighbors to watch three hours of slides of his trip to St. Louis. Don’t let that be you.
Let kindness rule
When friends are on trips, I love seeing a few photos, just so I know they are safe and well.
I don’t have a problem with an Instagram collage or two of beautiful places.
Yet, if I am reporting from a hot destination while back home it’s 10 degrees, I post very little. Something funny? OK. Something gorgeous? I think twice.
And if you are a person who travels a lot, you must be most careful of all. You don’t have to trumpet every trip. You don’t have to post about trekking in Nepal followed by your cruise to Antarctica, followed by your craft beer tour of California, followed by daily posts from every national park in the United States of America followed by your quick weekend getaway to Paris.
Modesty is the best policy, unless you want to be boring, boring, travel boring — plus make friends and family feel sad and anxious.
Readers, respond
So let me ask you, readers, How many posts does it take before you unfollow a bragging traveler?
What are your rules about posting while on a trip? What are your thoughts? Most outrageous examples? Let me know and I will follow up this column in a couple weeks.
Contact Detroit Free Press Travel Writer Ellen Creager at ecreager@freepress.com.
