Travel selfies on social networks, narcissism andthe “attraction-shading effect”(sciencedirect.com)

21 pointsby bookofjoe4 anni fa17 comments

Travel selfies on social networks, narcissism andthe “attraction-shading effect”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1447677019302037

18 comments

22c4 anni fa

Perhaps something that has been overlooked is that for most people, their phone IS their camera.

Years prior, it would've been too awkward to take a selfie in front of the Eiffel tower, so you'd have to get someone else to take the photo for you. They'd probably be standing much further back than the length of your extended arm, or even a selfie stick, so you'd naturally end up with more of the attraction in the frame than the traveller.

If it were possible to get both the detail of a tight portrait shot AND a good framing of the attraction AND it were as easy as taking a selfie, then we'd probably see more photos where the attraction is less "shaded" by the traveller.

Having said that I do think that a lot of "Instagram travel bloggers" exhibit selfish/narcissistic behaviours.

Rastonbury4 anni fa

The choice is to take a picture of the eiffel tower as the subject (without you) or a selfie with the eiffel tower in the background. Being into photography somewhat, I've always posted pictures of attractions and never myself. I still found it a bit narcissistic/self indulgent, like "oh I'm travelling to nice look at me" I hardly post anymore

winternett4 anni fa

Social media creates the conflict that shames people for documenting their moments. In days before the Internet, there are several instances of people photographing themselves in front of monuments and other things, If you check out "old school cool" on reddit, that becomes apparent (for those who weren't there).

Now, social media pays people for becoming celebrities, so the culture is a lot more staged as a result... It's not the fault of people who otherwise catalogue their activities and travels, so this should always be kept in proper perspective.

Social media rewards vapid, ignorant, and self-obsessed behavior in tech bloggers and politicians as much as it does wealthy teenagers that do nothing more but filming their daily self-absorbed excess within their lifestyles.

Normal and aspiring creators share the photos for those that care in hopes of being discovered, but most of the time they're off the platform's scripts, so they don't get promoted at all by the platform. It's the corporately engineered algorithms that should be blames for presenting personality/brand based (staged) content to most of us on purpose whenever we ritually don't like the content.

If you don't like content that is not based on personality, start clicking "like" on stuff that isn't popular, and not based on the common ego-driven social media tropes...

Also stop supporting things that make social media bias, personality cults, and consumerist/psychological manipulation popular... TikTok literally tells platform users what kind of content to create, that way they shape most of the experience on the platform into most of the repetitive "personality-driven" drivel that we see promoted on it (on purpose) all the time.

zbird4 anni fa

I don't even understand why one should be in the picture to begin with.

Rebelgecko4 anni fa

At that point why even take pictures of landmarks? Unless you have a decent camera and invest the time to learn how to use it, a professional pic of the Grand Canyon or Eiffel Tower is gonna be way better than yours.

Rastonbury4 anni fa

Weird take, just because there are people better and have done better means it's pointless to want to take my own photos? There are lots of reasons to take photos, to practise/improve, for something to keep as a memory of the experience, etc

shellfisher4 anni fa

No weirder a take than the parent post rejecting the idea of putting oneself in the picture.

zbird4 anni fa

For the same reason you re-implement software that already exists, for example.

lotsofpulp4 anni fa

Because they want to be. I like rifling through old photos/videos my parents took of themselves and me and my sister and other family members. We get start talking about what/who has changed since then, make fun of old fashion choices, and otherwise reminisce.

Photos can also help jog memory of a specific time and place that you otherwise would not remember.

herbst4 anni fa

I just keep them as reminder for myself. I don't post selfies (or any pictures for that matter) in public.

I more often ask myself why people are doing images of only the landmarks (instead of actually enjoying them) when they know just as well that their cameras and photo skills are crappy compared to whatever Google spits out.

MonaroVXR4 anni fa

I come in, since. I have been traveling with my sister... Do you what I keep it short.

It's just to show off where you have been. Traveling is most of the time to show off. According in the environment I'm in.

filoleg4 anni fa

Wow, this is a great point that I've never even considering, despite pondering on the topic of the whole instagram culture for a long time.

anikan_vader4 anni fa

I can’t say that I immediately grasp the connection between narcissism and the attraction-shading effect. Frankly, if I’m following you on social media while you’re traveling to Paris, I want to see photos of you, not of the Eiffel Tower. I follow very few people on social media, and the people I do follow are all people I care about.

They conclude by noting that attractions could lose out on promotional opportunities due to this effect — because people are taking selfies, I suppose? Since when was it the unilateral responsibility of tourists to promote the sites they visit?

When I want to see tourist sites, I watch travel documentaries (or better yet go in person). When I open up social media, it is because I want to learn information about the people I care about via selfies, photos, or text updates.

thenerdhead4 anni fa

What about the consideration of proving you were there? Or another way to phrase it, being able to “show, not tell”.

With social media to take account for, it seems that many of our interactions online are very similar to the story of Narcissus but from the perspective of the nymph Echo who couldn’t speak up while watching Narcissus fall in love with himself more and more.

There’s definitely a difference of your average Instagram selfie in a unique location vs. an “influencer” taking professional photos at a unique location. The latter tends to be more focused on the obsession of the physical appearance. A selfie just happens to be convenient. You watch influencers fall in love with themselves and as they become bigger and more famous, your voice becomes muted in the sea of comments, likes, and sponsorships they obtain.

herbst4 anni fa

When I went travelling some years ago I created a Instagram for my family and friends to get a peek of what I am doing.

I did mediocre pics with kinda personal content but soon more and more followers showed up, likes increased and nice comments appeared. Not much later I would get offers for advertisment deals in my DMs and weird people offering to show me around.

I didn't care, but I totally see why a more fragile, or narcissistic for that matter, personality may gets sucked into this.

MonaroVXR4 anni fa

Maybe offtopic or not. (I'm sleepy)

I was planning to date someone, she works in the mental health department.

Reason(s) why I didn't go because she quickly send my a photo of her in somewhere in the middle of nowhere taking a selfie. Let me explain again, she wanted the show the environment, I couldn't see anything of the environment, because she was standing in middle taking a selfie.

For a women several years older than me (mid 30) and other selfies. This was the last straw. I'm not against it, but I don't want to show everything to anyone and I'm not a selfie person at all.

(Since I get enough photos from my sister already, taking a lot of shots.

leobg4 anni fa

Dude. She may have simply wanted to show you that she’s thinking of you. If you remotely diagnosed her as narcissistic and concluded from that that you need not spend time with her anymore sounds to me like the typical rationalizations of someone who is of the “avoidant“ relationship type. That would be my remote diagnosis ;)

[deleted]4 anni fa