37% millennials risk safety for a holiday selfie

Research reveals an obsession with holiday selfies is confined to young millennials.

Our so-called ‘obsession’ with holiday selfies is not all it is hyped up to be – unless you’re a 20-something millennial. Nearly half of Australians who travel are generally social media shy, posting photos of only one in every four holidays.

The figures are very different for millennials: nearly half of millennials post selfies during EVERY holiday, and nearly two-thirds enhance their photos before doing so.

Facebook remains Australia’s biggest social media platform, with 17 million active monthly users; Instagram has five million active monthly users, and Snapchat has four million active daily users.

Despite this, a whopping 43 per cent of survey respondents indicated they post photos on social of one in four holidays, compared with just 24 per cent who post photos of every holiday.

For millennials, however, 41 per cent post photos on social of every holiday. This rate decreases the older we get (26 per cent of 30-somethings, 18 per cent of 40-somethings and 17 per cent of over-50s).

Women are more likely to post photos of every holiday they go on (29 per cent vs 18 per cent of men).

Friends Having Fun At Cocktail Party

The results also revealed that 20-something millennials are most likely to ‘enhance’ selfies and other holiday photos through filters and airbrushing, before posting on social media. Only 40 per cent said they post unfiltered images on their social accounts.

The numbers were much higher among older age groups: 65 per cent of Aussies in their 30s, 78 per cent of 40-somethings, and 89 per cent of over-50s post selfies that they didn’t enhance.

Women are more likely to enhance their travel photos than men – 34 per cent of women admitted to putting their photos through filters before posting on their social pages, compared with 20 per cent of men.

The results also reveal that millennials are the age group most likely to do a dangerous, risky or illegal activity just for a good photo – at 37 per cent. Of those who would, 20 per cent said they would do it even if it were risky, 13 per cent said they would do it even if it were dangerous, while a scant four per cent said they would do it even if it were illegal.

These findings come from a nationally representative survey of 1000 Australian adults commissioned by HotelsCombined. Conducted by an independent research agency, the purpose of the survey was to understand how Australian travellers document their holidays.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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