NEWS COPY
Taking photographs for sentimental reasons is becoming a thing of the past – because many pictures are now being taken purely to boast, a study has revealed.
Researchers found the days of treasured photographs being placed in print photo albums and put away for safe-keeping has been replaced by instantly posting photos online to show off.
The most common content of these ‘boastagraphs’ were found to be family holidays, nights out and pretty landscapes.
But when the shoe’s on the other foot, and we’re sat at work glancing through our social media timelines, one in seven confess to feeling jealous when seeing friends post their holiday snaps on social media.
A spokesman for British Airways Gatwick, which commissioned the study to mark the launch of ‘Inspire Us,’ their travel photo challenge said: “It’s great to see so many people sharing their special holiday moments, but the results of the survey show we all run the risk of boring our friends and family with repetitive shots online.
“While we agree that pictures of Bellini’s, beaches and beautiful buildings are fun to share, the ones that have the ‘wow’ effect or tell a personal story are always the best…. although it doesn’t hurt to make work colleagues a little envious in the process!
“Brits might be able to avoid annoying friends by picking and choosing their potential uploads carefully instead of repeating shots and ‘cheeky selfies by the pool’ during the duration of the holiday.
“We’ve launched a new challenge to try and encourage people to ditch sausage legs and the selfie-sticks in favour of something a bit more interesting.
“We’ll be giving the winners the ultimate opportunity to boast, when we blow the photos up on billboards across London and the south east.”
‘Selfies’ are a big part of a holiday for many Brits so much so that a quarter say they’ve either taken or intend to take a selfie stick abroad with them when they jet off.
The research also found many Brits won’t wait until they get home to upload their photos and 35 per cent of people will post their pictures online immediately or wait only an hour or so.
The most common image that will crop up in our timelines because of this is landscapes. The beach, beautiful and unusual buildings and the swimming pool are other pictures Brits can’t wait to stick online.
Other photos holidaymakers put on social media quickly are of the sea, sunsets and their ‘selfies’.
And one quarter of Brits think they may have annoyed people in the past purely from the amount of ‘selfies’ they’ve posted they put on social media in the past.
But despite this, one in ten thinks a ‘cheeky selfie with a cocktail by the pool’ is obligatory while one in six think they are annoying.
When the holiday is over and Brits return to normality the tan updates begin, with 23 per cent confessing they post regular updates on social media about how long their bronzed skin lasts for.
And the 28 per cent of social media posters who wait until they have a large batch of photos before clogging up their friends’ new feeds will begin doing so.
But it seems approval from followers, friends and connections mean a lot to Brits as 25 per cent have said they feel either upset, annoyed or confused if they don’t get any ‘likes’, ‘favourites’, ‘comments’ or ‘retweets’ on their uploads.
The spokesman added: “A great photograph will ensure you stand out from the crowd. Look for moments and situations that will surprise your friends, make them laugh or inspire them, and you can’t go wrong.”
BA’s ‘Inspire Us’ photo challenge runs until 15th March 2015. There are 10 trips up for grabs from London Gatwick. Enter at ba.com/inspireus
MOST COMMON SOCIAL MEDIA BOASTS
1. Family holidays
2. Nights out
3. Pretty landscapes
4. Pets
5. Children doing anything amusing
6. Road trips
7. Selfies
8. New car
9. Dinner
10. Holiday with friends
MOST COMMON HOLIDAY BOASTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
1. Landscapes
2. The beach
3. Beautiful or unusual buildings
4. The pool
5. The sea
6. Sunsets
7. Selfies
8. My hotel room
9. Food
10. Cocktails
ENDS
