If You Didn’t Gram It, Did You Even Go?
Remember when the main method to connect and communicate with friends was logging onto MSN after school? When social media had yet to explode and influencers were yet to exist? Ah yes, the good old days.
It was a simpler time when we could spend our Australian winter break in peace, blissfully unaware of the fact that what seemed like every person we knew was spending their holiday enjoying the dreamy European summer.
In recent years, it seems like every time June comes around, the influencers come out to play. Bondi Sands bronzed and dressed to impress, you’ll find your feeds flooded with endless poolside selfies, Santorini sunsets and, of course, the obligatory airplane window shot captioned “off to find myself!” Because, how else are people going to know you’re overseas?
Social media has undoubtedly created a cultural shift in consumers’ travel habits. Spots that were once previously unheard of or even sacred are being swarmed by a new breed of traveller, the Insta influencer. According to Crystal Abidin, influencers are everyday people with micro-celebrity on social media, who engage with and capitalise from their large following by incorporating “advertorials” into their online accounts and making appearances at events. Influencers can range from actresses, models, wealthy socialites to genetically blessed regular people. In today’s digital era, established media firms are competing with lifestyle content providers, producing and sharing such content on digital media. Influencers are creating almost a genre of travel in which people are becoming more concerned with the instagrammability of a destination, rather than the destination itself.
The expansion of new media and mobile technologies has led to social media platforms becoming a centre stage for influencers to show off the world’s most beautiful destinations. This has allowed influencers to share not only knowledge-related aspects of travel (e.g. price and weather conditions) but also personal experiences (e.g. emotions and fantasies) through various linguistic markers in online communication, such as photos and emojis.
In the fight to achieve ‘insta-fame’ from envy-inducing travel shots, these personal experiences influencers share have become everything but personal. It’s become less about capturing authentic memories from travelling, and more about how perfect and edited the images are. This is a common characteristic shown among influencers, who exhibit what followers wish to have in their lives. Alice Marwick explained influencer travel posts are the “catalogs of what many young people dream of having and the lifestyle they dream of living”. Here are some examples.
Instagram: Terme di Saturnia (Manciano, Italy)
VS.
Reality: Terme di Saturnia (Manciano, Italy)
Instagram: Brooklyn Bridge (New York, New York)
VS.
Reality: Brooklyn Bridge (New York, New York)
Instagram: Great Wall of China (Beijing, China)
VS.
Reality: Great Wall of China (Beijing, China)
Pretty crazy right? What many people forget to remember is the reality of the situation. A crowd of people armed with selfie sticks at these famous landmarks is a given. However, when followers visit these destinations themselves after seeing an influencer’s post on Instagram, it can be disappointing. They may wonder — why isn’t my photo as perfect as theirs?
In addition to the disparity of Instagram influencer versus reality, another issue in this current debate is the pressure put on social media users to post content when on holiday. No longer is it enough to show photos and videos to your small circle of friends, or (gasp!) just simply talk about it in a conversation. Now, we’re almost expected to share our travel experiences online into global databases that can be managed and analysed by tourism companies and organisations.
According to Munar & Jacobsen, studies have revealed sharing behaviour on social media is closely linked to a person’s self-centered motivations for “gaining respect and recognition, increasing social ties, augmenting one’s self-esteem, enjoyment of online activity, and achieving enhanced cooperation in return”. These users are actively involved in what Henry Jenkins describes as participatory culture, as this online sharing behaviour makes users feel a social connection with one another, which creates a sense of empowerment. This suggests many influencers have become reliant on showcasing their travels on social media to attain self-worth.
While these issues concerning influencer marketing for tourism exist, there are some positive impacts. Many travel suppliers have embraced influencer marketing as an effective marketing strategy to enhance destinations’ image and boost economies by increasing tourists’ arrivals. For example, in 2015, influencers played a major role in boosting tourism for Wanaka, a small town in New Zealand. By actively pursuing partnerships with influencers who visited the town and shared their travel experiences online, they received an impressive return on investment: a 14 percent increase in tourism growth.
Let’s be real. Influencers have become incredibly powerful figures in the travel industry. However, for someone that’s been to a few influencer hot spots myself such as London and Paris, I know that although these are great destinations, they’re not always what they’re hyped up to be. I too am guilty of looking on Instagram locations prior to visiting a foreign location to see if there’s any opportunities to step up my Instagram game; and many times, you’re left disappointed as it’s almost impossible to take a photo without a tourist behind you, or it’s just not as great as it looks in real life.
We should relax and enjoy our holidays. Put down the phone and be in the moment. Sound too difficult? Here’s a suggestion- why not document your trip using a disposable camera? These handy gadgets are making a big comeback for their vintage, grainy look. By choosing to kick it old school, you’ll be giving yourself a quota on how many times you look down into your camera for the perfect shot, and spending more time invested in the moment.
