Was recently in Borneo, picked up a magazine in an accommodation, read an article about how traveling nowadays needs to be documented and is about experience as much as your feeds... I... felt old.
I think that in some cultures it's even more than others, for example I often saw hordes of Chinese tourists (but there are of course simply a lot of Chinese people) take turns in front of a waterfall (on flip flop or even heels), have some pics taken and go back to the bus.
I also visited food-markets and saw food stalls with large lines of people, where as some had hardly any people waiting, I ask: Why this stall? "It's popular on Chinese social media"... One by one they snapped a pic as the cook made their meal, and waited for >30 mins to do so.
People ask me when I travel (with family usually): Where is your Polarsteps? My what now? (Yeah yeah I know what it is I just pretend I don't.)
Amazing.
Edit: Also amazes me that many people told me: "Wow 5 weeks in Malaysia, you could have done Thailand, Vietnam, etc, etc as well!" Well yeah but I like to take some days to explore and not rush and get to know a nice restaurant and eat there again and rent a scooter or bike and drive around a bit. And sleep 2 nights in some small village that doesn't have a large temple or something and eat a great meal there for 2 euros, made by people that are very proud that you as a tourist sat down at their place and don't accept any tip. Moreover, there is a boatload of cool stuff in every country, to me this country hopping just adds travel time, not much more. Next time we'll visit another country, and if not, I still rather experience one country more deeply.
Another edit: Also an amazing thing, the amount of couples where the guy is holding a phone, making of a video of the girl while she dreamily walks through the sea waving her arms slowly, just looking around. Like a perfume commercial (what's up with those anyway?!), or like Hillary Clinton when the balloons fell. A-ma-zing, what a species we are.
I remember the '80s and people showing you projector slides of their vacations, or picture albums. In the 00s, I recall a friend who made videos of his vacations to make this faster and more bearable :)
Social media is problematic but documenting your vacations and showing it to other people has always been part of traveling.
I really didn't know about Polarsteps. It's been a while since my last long journey. I used to select some pictures when I got back home and upload them to both my website and Facebook (the only time in the year I still used FB.) I also sent a few pictures to some friends of mine on WhatsApp when I was still travelling.
Yeah we do that too, does take a bit of the fun out of that moment where you sit down with your family and show them your trip, they already say it all haha. I'm really old right?
> hordes of Chinese tourists (but there are of course simply a lot of Chinese people) take turns in front of a waterfall (on flip flop or even heels), have some pics taken and go back to the bus
In the early 90s in my region in southern europe we'd joke that the only Chinese tourists you'd see would be referred to as "5min for photo". They always only needed 5mins to get out with camera, snap pics, get back in. This is not a new phenomenon.
Notably, Chinese tourists have been notorious in Asia for decades (long before social media) for travel being very focused on, ahem, performative status seeking. It’s a big part of why counterfeit goods are such a big deal.
The ‘sweet smile in front of the camera, obsessive competitive behavior when no one is looking’ is a huge thing culturally.
Before social media, they would be taking photos (and later videos) just the same. In fact, before they became ubiquitous in phones, people used to buy cameras (and extra film) specifically for the purpose of using them in their travels.
Look at it this way: would those four out of ten people have visited those places if they weren't allowed to take any photos or videos? And how many would do a thing if they weren't allowed to tell anyone afterwards?
The survey result is 'nearly four in ten travellers (39%) say they have visited a tourist site mainly to take a photo or record a video.'
You, I believe, are making a different observation, which is that taking a photo or recording a film has long been a component of many tourist trips. Which is of course true.
I'll add that likely more people would have done so had film and film development been a lot cheaper. We certainly did trips in the 1980s where we took no camera, or if we did, only a few pictures or perhaps a single roll.
Digital cameras have existed before phones had the capability and have been around for a long time (at least 20 years). They made it a lot easier to take photos as you can take hundreds/thousands of photos and download them when you get home.
When visiting places on holiday, I've taken my camera with me for the purpose of taking photos. I've also seen people with more expensive cameras (mainly larger lenses) camped out near puffins, on boat trips, etc. with the intention of getting a decent wildlife photo.
Kinda - it used to be the reach of vacation photos was relatively limited, so the degree of aggressiveness was also relatively limited.
Going literally to just get photos was also somewhat limited, because who would be crazy enough to go just to get photos for a few friends and acquaintances and never even attempt to enjoy it? A limited number of people.
Social media has really amped it up, including the competitive aspect of it, and the number of people trying to be professional at it.
Yeah I think people might not have witnessed how absurd this is. I was at a nice hotel pool in a tourist destination and this family of 3 people (quite jacked and lean ~40-50 father, very beautiful wife & ~20 something daughter), probably South Korean, comes over.
In almost military fashion/synchronization they immediately get around the pool and start posing, then into the pool where they they carefully wet their hair, took more pictures with heavily orchestrated poses, a few more poses around the pool, and then they were dried off and out. In total it lasted maybe 3 minutes, probably before they raced off to enjoy the next checkbox on their relaxing vacation.
Maybe they can go look at whatever they end up posting on social media and just imagine how amazing it must have been.
They are enjoying it. They're enjoying it in their own way, and I think there's nothing wrong with that.
I did a little bit of travel when I was young before smartphones were everywhere. There were definitely tourists going to spots to take a picture and then leaving.
Tell me you’re Gen Z without telling me you’re Gen Z.
No, it was not always thus. People would take a camera or a disposable camera, sure, but it wasn’t the focus - it was “oh we should grab a photo for aunt Mabel”. And you’d have 30 shots. For the entire trip.
The nice thing about others taking photos, is that I can focus on the odd ones. I have photos of really well made knots on a guiding rope, and street gutter stones.
You wanna see what Venice looks like in general? Just go on Tiktok; they have better equipment anyway. You wanna see, up close, the nicely carved gutter stones that handles water without breaking the stone pattern? I'm your photographer.
Every so often I see a news article about an instagram influencer that literally like, rolls off the side of a volcano while trying to capture "content", and I think to myself "well, I'm not surprised".
You haven’t truly experienced an exceptional vantage point until you hear the influencer next to you say to his cameraman “Does my hair look windswept and interesting?”
I used to be an avid amateur photographer and took a backpack full of gear anytime I’d visit tourist sites or anywhere cool. After a few years I stopped altogether because it dawned on me that I was missing the experience entirely. Now I just snap a few pics with my phone and try to enjoy the experience. Never did it for social media cred though.
I'm the same way. It's hard to explain to loved ones why I take so many pictures of fucked up industrial buildings 10 minutes from my home, but don't bring any cameras with me when I travel.
When I'm in a new place, I want to be present within that place.
I feel like taking pictures is a fun experience in itself. For me, it isn't really "missing the experience". If anything, it makes me pay more attention to the amazing view and details that I'd have otherwise missed as I try to line up the shot perfectly.
I likewise used to bring a backpack full of gear, but I think the experience of traveling and taking pictures over and over again with the Big Nice Camera did a lot to hone my skills as a photographer.
I have photos I’m genuinely happy with, years later.
See, I think that's cool. It's like a hobby or craft that you're invested in. It feels different from taking lame photos with your smart phone just for the cred.
I was in Japan with my family last year and I deeply enjoyed taking pictures of people queued up to take "that perfect instagramnable picture": a person alone in the torii gate, with a hundred people in a line just outside the frame.
I'm sure they enjoyed the trip just as well as I did tho.
It's imitation, I think. Influencers traveling for clout isn't exactly new, and they got it from existing conventions on social media. So now everybody feels compelled to do the same, or they'll have something to explain.
Let people enjoy things. If people want to visit a place, take some photos, and leave, then I don't believe that's morally inferior to someone who visits the same place but doesn't take photos. People enjoy tourist destinations differently and that's fine.
At this point, I'm more annoyed by the people who make a display of their sense of superiority over people taking photos or otherwise not enjoying the tourist destination in their approved way. Everyone has the same right to be there, IMO.
I didn't get any sense of criticism or judgement from the article.
I'll add that New Zealand's government does see influencer photography as morally inferior. You're not free to use the otherwise public national parks for commercial activity, which includes taking photos you're going to post on social media if you're a paid influencer. They have some permit process and you have to pay a fee for the privilege.
I travel to tourist sites to take the exact same photo that is taken thousands of times every day because I have an above-average camera so I can take better quality photos than most other people lol
If I'm a hundred meters away from a tourist site that I'm not overly interested in but can snatch a quick picture to send to friends? Well sure. I'd admit to that.
I visited the world's largest paving stone in Brussels to grab a picture for a friend who had told me about it.
> For 18% of respondents, an obsession with photos and social media can be considered a red flag when choosing a travel companion.
This is the number that surprised me. I'd thought that would be much higher.
Yeah, it does, as this behaviour was unknown previously. A camera was an accessory, not the focus of your trip.
Amazed by the number of kids on this thread going “but it’s always been like this!” - much like they always assume I had social media as a kid. In the 80s.
Maybe they don't like swimming. I don't. However it's really rare that I end up on a beach. Four times in the last 7 years? The first beach of them really deserved some pictures.
If you do take a long-distance trip, the easiest way to cut carbon impact is to just not post about it. Social networks feed the envy that drives consumerism.
I think that in some cultures it's even more than others, for example I often saw hordes of Chinese tourists (but there are of course simply a lot of Chinese people) take turns in front of a waterfall (on flip flop or even heels), have some pics taken and go back to the bus.
I also visited food-markets and saw food stalls with large lines of people, where as some had hardly any people waiting, I ask: Why this stall? "It's popular on Chinese social media"... One by one they snapped a pic as the cook made their meal, and waited for >30 mins to do so.
People ask me when I travel (with family usually): Where is your Polarsteps? My what now? (Yeah yeah I know what it is I just pretend I don't.)
Amazing.
Edit: Also amazes me that many people told me: "Wow 5 weeks in Malaysia, you could have done Thailand, Vietnam, etc, etc as well!" Well yeah but I like to take some days to explore and not rush and get to know a nice restaurant and eat there again and rent a scooter or bike and drive around a bit. And sleep 2 nights in some small village that doesn't have a large temple or something and eat a great meal there for 2 euros, made by people that are very proud that you as a tourist sat down at their place and don't accept any tip. Moreover, there is a boatload of cool stuff in every country, to me this country hopping just adds travel time, not much more. Next time we'll visit another country, and if not, I still rather experience one country more deeply.
Another edit: Also an amazing thing, the amount of couples where the guy is holding a phone, making of a video of the girl while she dreamily walks through the sea waving her arms slowly, just looking around. Like a perfume commercial (what's up with those anyway?!), or like Hillary Clinton when the balloons fell. A-ma-zing, what a species we are.
Social media is problematic but documenting your vacations and showing it to other people has always been part of traveling.
In the early 90s in my region in southern europe we'd joke that the only Chinese tourists you'd see would be referred to as "5min for photo". They always only needed 5mins to get out with camera, snap pics, get back in. This is not a new phenomenon.
The ‘sweet smile in front of the camera, obsessive competitive behavior when no one is looking’ is a huge thing culturally.
I like the memories. I enjoy looking through a photo album many years down the line and reminiscing about a great trip.
People take photos to brag.
People take photos to prove to non-believers that something happened.
People take photos to capture beauty.
People used to take photos and people continue to take photos. I suspect the reason has changed.
You, I believe, are making a different observation, which is that taking a photo or recording a film has long been a component of many tourist trips. Which is of course true.
I'll add that likely more people would have done so had film and film development been a lot cheaper. We certainly did trips in the 1980s where we took no camera, or if we did, only a few pictures or perhaps a single roll.
When visiting places on holiday, I've taken my camera with me for the purpose of taking photos. I've also seen people with more expensive cameras (mainly larger lenses) camped out near puffins, on boat trips, etc. with the intention of getting a decent wildlife photo.
Going literally to just get photos was also somewhat limited, because who would be crazy enough to go just to get photos for a few friends and acquaintances and never even attempt to enjoy it? A limited number of people.
Social media has really amped it up, including the competitive aspect of it, and the number of people trying to be professional at it.
In almost military fashion/synchronization they immediately get around the pool and start posing, then into the pool where they they carefully wet their hair, took more pictures with heavily orchestrated poses, a few more poses around the pool, and then they were dried off and out. In total it lasted maybe 3 minutes, probably before they raced off to enjoy the next checkbox on their relaxing vacation.
Maybe they can go look at whatever they end up posting on social media and just imagine how amazing it must have been.
They are enjoying it. They're enjoying it in their own way, and I think there's nothing wrong with that.
I did a little bit of travel when I was young before smartphones were everywhere. There were definitely tourists going to spots to take a picture and then leaving.
In the past nobody went to London to take a picture of a phone booth, but you did take a picture of a phone booth anyway.
You'd go to the Horse Guards spot to take a picture, not to enjoy the horses.
In this sense, regular people do visit a spot just to take a picture, and have always done that.
No, it was not always thus. People would take a camera or a disposable camera, sure, but it wasn’t the focus - it was “oh we should grab a photo for aunt Mabel”. And you’d have 30 shots. For the entire trip.
You wanna see what Venice looks like in general? Just go on Tiktok; they have better equipment anyway. You wanna see, up close, the nicely carved gutter stones that handles water without breaking the stone pattern? I'm your photographer.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=influence...
When I'm in a new place, I want to be present within that place.
I have photos I’m genuinely happy with, years later.
I was in Japan with my family last year and I deeply enjoyed taking pictures of people queued up to take "that perfect instagramnable picture": a person alone in the torii gate, with a hundred people in a line just outside the frame.
I'm sure they enjoyed the trip just as well as I did tho.
At this point, I'm more annoyed by the people who make a display of their sense of superiority over people taking photos or otherwise not enjoying the tourist destination in their approved way. Everyone has the same right to be there, IMO.
I'll add that New Zealand's government does see influencer photography as morally inferior. You're not free to use the otherwise public national parks for commercial activity, which includes taking photos you're going to post on social media if you're a paid influencer. They have some permit process and you have to pay a fee for the privilege.
"Nearly four in ten respondents, 39%, admit they have visited a tourist site mainly to take a photo or video."
... That doesn't mean that it's just for social media
If I'm a hundred meters away from a tourist site that I'm not overly interested in but can snatch a quick picture to send to friends? Well sure. I'd admit to that.
I visited the world's largest paving stone in Brussels to grab a picture for a friend who had told me about it.
> For 18% of respondents, an obsession with photos and social media can be considered a red flag when choosing a travel companion.
This is the number that surprised me. I'd thought that would be much higher.
Amazed by the number of kids on this thread going “but it’s always been like this!” - much like they always assume I had social media as a kid. In the 80s.
> Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize.