Young travellers deceive on social media
Social media is becoming increasingly important to millennials’ holiday experiences, highlighted by the fact that one-third of travellers aged between 18 and 34 admit that they have posted deceiving images to social media to convince their followers that they are having a better holiday than they actually are, according to a new survey of American travellers from Allianz Global Assistance.
Those that have done so admit that their main goal is to make others envious, with 65 per cent claiming this to be the case, whilst half see it as a way to compete with those that do the same. Men were found to be more likely than women to take staged holiday photos.
Whether for nefarious purposes or not, social media posts are important to millennials for documenting trips, with 63 per cent saying that the reason behind their posts is so they can look back on their trips. Over half realise the wonders spending a week in the sun can do, saying that they post because they look best in their holiday photos, whilst 52 per cent post because their holiday snaps have the best surroundings.
Before you go waggling your finger and tutting, Allianz Global Assistance found that neither Generation X or Baby Boomers are immune to the narcissism of social media. 45 per cent of Gen X’ers and 20 per cent of Baby Boomers admitted posting their holiday photos because they looked best in them, whilst 20 per cent of Gen X’ers and nine per cent of Baby Boomers said that they posted pictures on social media to make others jealous.
Social media posts don’t just inspire jealousy in viewers, but also serve as inspiration for their next trip, with over half of all respondents saying that posts influence their travel planning choices. Despite the rise of social media influences and the constant brand posts on social media, 63 per cent claim to be most inspired by their family and friends.
“Social media changes the way we live, work, play and of course, travel. As millennials continue to lead trends, it will be interesting to see if social deception becomes a more common and even acceptable activity when portraying vacations to friends, family and followers,” said Dan Durazo, Director of Communications, Allianz Global Assistance USA. “Whether you plan to make your vacation look better than it was or not, the right travel insurance policy can protect you from the unexpected things that may go wrong – and your social media followers will never need to know that the trip wasn’t as perfect as it looked on Instagram.”