Some Millennials Aren't Enjoying Their Vacations as Much as Instagram Suggests
More than one-third of millennials (ages 18-34) have intentionally posted misleading images on their social media accounts to make their holidays seem better than they really are, a study by Allianz Global Assistance has found. Its 10th annual 2018 Vacation Confidence Index also found that 15 percent of Gen X-ers (ages 35-54) and 5 percent of baby boomers (aged 55+) have also posted shots that make their vacations appear much cooler.
According to the study, there are two main reasons for this: to make followers envious (65 percent) and to compete with others who do the same (51 percent). Perhaps surprisingly, men are more likely to post vacation pictures for these reasons than women.
While millennials came out on top for documenting their travels on social media, their reasons for posting varied: 63 percent wanted to look back on their trips with rose-tinted glasses; 58 percent were more concerned with sharing photos in which they look good; 52 percent wanted to hype up the landscape; and 37 and 27 percent of postings were to provoke envy and compete with friends’ and followers’ holiday snaps respectively.
This deceptive approach, however, has not influenced how users perceive shots shared by others on social media. Most people appear to trust vacation shots shared by others, particularly if they know the person sharing.
Head here to read the full breakdown of the study.
Do you share deceptive vacation shots on social media? Let us know in the comments.
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