The top 10 Most Annoying social Media Travel Pictures

'Hot dog legs' photos have been voted the most annoying type of travel snap on social media

A survey of 2,000 adults found one in four get wound up by images of tanning legs, which are almost indistinguishable from frankfurters. Another 23 per cent selected travel shots boastfully captioned with things like ‘My Monday is better than yours’ as their biggest bugbear. And one in five would be happy if they never saw another picture of someone’s holiday cocktail uploaded to social media again.

Other images that annoy Brits include people posing on sun loungers, photos taken out of plane windows, or generic sunsets. Instead, almost three in 10 want to see more every day, realistic depictions of travel, according to the research by hotel brand Hampton by Hilton. And the average traveller would be seven times more likely to book a stay after seeing more realistic depictions of a destination.

In response, to portray a more realistic side to British travel, Hampton by Hilton appointed one of the UK’s leading documentary photographers, Ian Weldon, as its ‘Realist in Residence’. Captured over a typical weekend in one of its hotels, the new photography series entitled ‘This is Real Travel’ features candid photographs of genuine hotel guests in action – from Morris dancers in full regalia getting to grips with a waffle maker, to football fans having a post-match pint and a flurry of girlfriends getting ready for a night out.

Ian Weldon said: “This series is all about celebrating those heart-warming and often humorous connections that happen when we travel, and I hope it shines a light on the fun and friendliness that can be found in every single type of trip.

“This series brings to life the real side of travel by celebrating the connections that make travelling experiences so special but often don’t make the photo album.”

The study also found 28 per cent of adults are fed up of seeing the overly-posed, inauthentic holiday snaps as while having nothing against an exotic escape, these kinds of trips only make up around 10 per cent of the average person’s annual leave. In fact, UK-bound Brits spend almost 35 per cent of their annual leave on occasion travel across the country attending weddings, reunions, concerts, sporting events, family birthdays, shopping trips and stag and hen dos. And 18 per cent say such picture-perfect pictures are unattainable – possibly because 20 per cent admitted to posting a holiday picture on their own social media pages which made the trip look better than it really was.

It also emerged that more than a tenth (13 per cent) feel ‘bombarded’ by travel images they see as unattainable, according to the OnePoll research. An estimated 3.4 million people have even unfollowed someone for posting too many filtered images of exotic destinations – in the winter. The research also found 14 per cent of Brits can even feel down after seeing pictures of exotic holidays in winter while not having holiday plans themselves.

Tal Shefer, regional head of Hampton by Hilton EMEA, said: “With nearly 20 per cent of Brits admitting they would like to see people using no filters for travel photography in 2020, we couldn’t be happier to partner with Ian Weldon to launch our ‘This Is Real Travel’ campaign.

“When it comes to trips, Hampton keeps it real. Whenever you stay with us, you can count on our hot breakfast, waffles and Wi-Fi to be included as standard, along with happiness guaranteed.”

TOP TEN MOST ANNOYING SOCIAL MEDIA TRAVEL PICTURES
1. Hot dogs or legs (26 per cent)
2. Boastful captions, such as ‘my Monday is going better than yours’ (23 per cent)
3. Poses in bikinis/swimwear (20 per cent)
4. Pictures of drinks (19 per cent)
5. Poses on pristine beaches (16 per cent)
6. Sun lounger poses (15 per cent)
7. Pictures on the plane – out of the plane window, or if you are travelling in business class (15 per cent)
8. People posting images long after they return (13  per cent)
9. Official shoots with a professional photographer (12 per cent)
10. Sunsets or sunrises (12 per cent)

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