Why do we share our travel experiences?
How are our social experiences bound up with social media platforms and their affordances, and how do we make use of them?
Our social experiences are often tied up with the way we use social media platforms and their affordances. When discussing affordances of social media, this refers to the functions and uses that social media has that allow social interactions to take place, such as posting user generated content, commenting on and reacting to each other's posts, private messaging and so on.
An example of this is the way that travelling is shared on social media and the influence this has. The popularity of ‘travel influencers’ has been on the rise for years, with their “engaging and relevant content” (Ulrike, 2018). As Oliveria et.al explains, “the amount of travel information is growing at a dizzying rate” (Oliveria, Araujo & Tam, 2020). Influencer marketing typically works well for brands as the influencers have “”power to affect decisions of others because of their (real or perceived) authority, knowledge, position or relationship”” (Businessdictionary.com, 2017, cited by Ulrike, 2018). This is important, as when we are deciding on a travel destination, usually decisions are “more affected by the opinions of our trusted friends channelled through social media” (Oliveria, Araujo & Tam, 2020).
Another driver to share our travel experiences also stems from a want to educate and inform others, such as giving “advice to avoid using bad products and services” (Oliveria, Araujo & Tam, 2020). This helps to build a sense of community within the travelling content posted on social media, “another motivation is to maintain social contacts and friendships” (Oliveria, Araujo & Tam, 2020). According to Ma and Chan, “creation of strong relationships and cohesive groups is an innate characteristic of humans” (Ma and Chan, 2014, cited by Oliveria, Araujo & Tam, 2020). The affordances of social media platforms allow these social interactions to take place.
While many people participate in these online exchanges, the number of ‘lurkers’ continues to rise also (Oliveria, Araujo & Tam, 2020). ‘Lurkers’ are those who do not actively participate in the social exchange, rather they view it from a distance without sharing it. According to Mousavi, Roper and Keeling, lurkers make up the majority of those on social media. This can be because even though they are not actively participating in the experience, “people often identify socially with groups even when they have no contact with specific members of that group” (Ahearne, Bhattacharya, & Gruen, 2005; Turner, 1982, cited by Mousavi, Roper & Keeling, 2017), therefore it is reasonable that lurkers feel a sense of belonging, as they continue to add value to the online brand communities (Mousavi, Roper & Keeling, 2017), of course the online brand communities in this case being the travel accounts on social media platforms.
Overall, the online ecosystem across social media platforms, and their affordances plays a large role in the social experiences we have online.
I included a photo from my trip to Singapore back in 2018, if you get the chance, I definitely recommend going there!
Marianna, S, Ulrike, G, Christou, E, Advances in Social Media for Travel, Tourism and Hospitality: New Perspectives, Practice and Cases, 1st edn, Routledge, London.
Mousavi, S, Roper, S & Keeling, KA 2017, ‘Interpreting Social Identity in Online Brand Communities: Considering Posters and Lurkers’, Psychology & marketing, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 376–393.
Oliveira, T, Araujo, B & Tam, C 2020, 1982 ‘Why do people share their travel experiences on social media?’, Tourism management, vol. 78, p. 104041–.
