“SOCIAL TRAVELLING”- NAVIGATING THE NEW WORLD

-Siddiqa Fatima

It’s a social media world we live in, & it has a significant influence on every major industry across the world. With endless ways to stay connected, from Facebook to Instagram, we can travel like never before. With platforms like YouTube where travelers take us on their journeys to see what they get up to. After returning from vacation and cleaning the sand out of their suitcases, travelers continue to use social media. People want to appear as if they are ‘living their best lives.’ There’s also competitiveness with others. Then there’s the matter of money

IT`S INFLUENCE

For many millennials, their social media presence is an extension of their brand. People want to appear as if they are ‘living their best lives. They want to look at themselves as perfect & fabulous. On the other hand, some receive money based on followers, likes, and shares.

The growth of the Travel and tourism industry is heavily based on the opinions, social networks, and recommendations, from friends and family members, more than any other form of advertising. Popular social networks such as Facebook, Instagram Twitter, and YouTube have a big influence on the world.

People have always loved sharing photos and videos taken of their travels. What social media has done is to facilitate and expand people’s ability to share travel experiences with a wider audience than ever before.

However, with all of this comes to a few problems, it has some pros as well as cons.

PROS:

· Traveling becomes easier: Mobile apps make traveling a breeze. Whether you’re trying to find out when the next bus comes, or get the cheapest flight, an app is available.

· Encourage travelers to share post-trip. Travelers spend a lot of time thinking about or planning their next trip.

· Travelers gain inspiration weeks or months before they begin to plan their trip in earnest. Consider connecting with past travelers and inspire them to share their images to social media with email or social media outreach campaigns to inspire newcomers.

· With today’s technology, there is an app for almost everything, especially for hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, and museums

CONS:

· On the other hand, we remain glued to our screen all the time, take the perfect selfie while simultaneously getting the whole thing on your videos, or being live on Instagram, you never got to see it with your own two eyes.

· This is a familiar scenario for anyone who loves to travel and also loves to capture travel moments to look back on later.

· Take at least a few minutes wherever you are to simply use your senses to observe without reaching for a device.

Creating a curated feed of how we wish our lives looked, regardless of how messy the real thing is. The same is true for our travels. For the “perfect- shot” on the beach to post to Instagram, or the best sunset photo to make ourselves `social media-worthy. `

CONCLUSION:

Overall, social media is very influential when it comes to traveling and tourism. It influences positively and is a good thing. Now, people find more information about the destinations they want to go to and have a higher chance of having a good time because they know what to expect! But in some ways, it has made our lives somewhat deceptive & affected mental health.