Social Media on Vacation – is it Good or Bad?

Modern Traveling

Modern travelers have instant access to millions of people and unlimited information from a device in the palm of their hands. Letters and post cards are a thing of the past as having a full conversation with somebody across the world is now instantaneous. This ability has enabled us to not disconnect on vacation from the rest of the world, as it has in the past. Is this a bad or a good thing? It all comes down to how you use it.

Hey! Go rob my home!

This is a case for not posting while on vacation. By posting on social media, you are letting the world know that you are miles and miles away from your home. This could be an open invite for somebody trolling the internet to check out and see how secure your home is. The possibility of this is happening is probably pretty slim but if you have a lot of “friends” on your social media pages that you don’t know, it might be a good idea to wait on those posts until you are back home.

F.O.M.O. is real

The fear of missing out. We have all felt it at some point. You want to keep up to date on what your friends and family are doing. You don’t want to miss an engagement announcement, a pregnancy post, a funny story, a cool picture. You feel out-of-the loop as you lay under a beautiful sky on a warm sunny beach. This is a real reason why we just can’t disconnect while on vacation. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing to feel this way! The key to dealing with F.O.M.O. on vacation is moderation. Give yourself ~15 minutes at the end of the day to scroll through your feeds and catch up with those that you miss back home. F.O.M.O. becomes an issue if you are more concerned about what your friends are doing than enjoying your own experience.

Smoasting

Social media boasting. We all know people that do this and at times we may be guilty ourselves. It’s hard to be in an exotic location and not share a picture to boast that you are there. The more “likes” a post gets means more people have seen it and that means more satisfaction. It’s all about having a cool social media persona, regardless of how boring your day to day life may be. Constantly checking for how many likes your recent post got can distract you from the beauty of the world around you. Don’t let smoasting get in the way of enjoying your vacation.

Disconnect to Reconnect

Hopefully, after a relaxing vacation you are able to return to work refreshed and focus more on the things you enjoy. Perhaps this same idea can be applied to your social media usage. After taking a break from social media while on vacation, you can return to it rejuvenated and more alert rather than just mindlessly scrolling through. Give this a try on your next trip!

It’s your vacation

In the end, it is your decision how to spend your time and what you want to get out of your vacation. Maybe you work hard and going on a vacation is your way to break from routine and reconnect with friends and family, even if it is through social media while on your trip. Maybe you would rather just disconnect from it all. Perhaps you use it for one of the other reason above. It is your choice.

My advice is the same as almost everything in life: moderation.

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