Admit it, when vacation has finally arrived, a lot of us would head straight to our phones and post pictures to Instagram or Facebook about how we cannot wait to getaway. This may seem like a great way of showing off your trip to family and friends but sharing your happy pictures on social media while on vacation can be very risky.
Aside from that, you would want to avoid the usual dangers of posting your life online and attract your audience with these social media ethics.
Don’t Choose Quantity Over Quality (Rule of Thumb)
Social media has made nearly all of us post everything. From checking in to every airport to your hotel accommodation to the restaurant you’re planning to have dinner; you would tweet your every move, Snapchat every action, and after getting back, everyone is so over it. No one wants to hear about everything you are doing there. Just do it moderately, it can pretty annoying for most people, especially on social media. Avoid spamming your friends’ feed and simply share several highlights that sum up your trip if you want to show off a little.
Don’t Fool Everyone With Filters
Please, stop manipulating reality. You’re on a vacation, you’re not there to impress your friends with a travel brochure! With our society’s perfection-seeking attitude, it can be tempting to beautify your images in a very intense way. It’s fine to tweak there and a little here, but having yourself to airbrush and extremely increase colours, maybe you’re having wrong priorities in life.
So don’t be a victim of social pressure, keep them real.
Don’t Make Your Family and Friends Your Fans
It may seem nice to broadcast what you’re having for breakfast to the world and to let them know you’ve touched base while travelling. Don’t worry about it, we’re sure everyone still knows that you’re alive and having fun. All you need to do is to arrange a time for video calls and messages to your loved ones.
Don’t Be Overrated! Be Quirky and Unique With Your Adventures
Try to be original! Before you post again, at least make it creative. Look for a way to not repeat those old poses like lifting the leaning tower of Pisa. Have an unusual perspective on the common places you’ll be visiting. Make sure you have fun and not feel pressures to do the things that everyone else is doing. Explore lesser-known sights instead!
Don’t Post Your Flight Information
It’s exciting to take a picture of your boarding pass or passport and post them on your story or social media account before boarding your flight but avoid it. This will only provide criminals to private personal information or even break into your house knowing no one’s home. If you really want to post it, it’s better to do it when you’ve returned home from your trip. Most insurance companies will reject claims from travellers who have been robbed if they have shared their travel updates online while on a trip.
Don’t Use Public Wifi Unless You Have VPN
Of course, who doesn’t like free Wifi, right? Travellers would look this up first while checking into a hotel or when visiting a public space. The Wifi you’re using should be legitimate since criminals can duplicate public networks to entice unwary people into sharing information. It’s best that you use your own cellular data if you would do a bank transaction online. It would be best to use a VPN app if you really have to. Also, all of your devices should be password-protected in case they get lost or stolen.
Don’t Post the Specific Dates
Don’t give away to the public any specific dates of your vacation. Announcing to everyone your departure and arrival dates can be a clue for the duration that you will not be home.
Don’t Use Too Many Hashtags
We love using hashtags to our Instagram posts and it’s okay to use at least 2 to 5 hashtags. However, adding 50 hashtags to your sunset shot will not make it stand out from the million Instagram users out there, so why even try 50? It’s annoying! Less is more when it comes to hashtags. What you can do is to tag destination names so followers and other users can know more about that place if they want to visit it soon.
Don’t Use Your Phone All The Time When It’s a “WOW” Moment
Your travel should be fun and about you. It’s not about impressing people online. Avoid reaching out for your phone the moment you saw or experience something breathtaking. Although it became our habit since we live in a tech-savvy generation, try not to do it. It will only leave you feeling disconnected from your experiences. Remember, social media commitments may soon feel like a chore for you. So make sure to switch off and live in the present. Stop trying to get the perfect shot and live in the magic of the moment.
It’s difficult to resist not getting a photo of the perfect view and not sharing it with people online. The tip here is to pause and count to 10 before taking a photo of the Instagram-worthy view. What’s more important is soaking up the scene first.
The bottom line is, remember that you are on a vacation. You don’t need to post everything on social media, especially sensitive personal information. It’s for your own security. It’s also better that you disconnect sometimes and share those precious moments on social at a later time.
