Social Media Use on Holiday - How Much is too Much?

A trip away is always a treat; it gives us time to relax, get away from work and recharge your batteries. It's often frowned upon when people spend a lot of time on social media while on holiday - but how much time is too much?

A study from Expedia looked at 2,000 holidaymakers' social media habits while away, and revealed that the average person on a week-long trip spends a total of nine hours glued to a screen. Almost half of respondents admitted to missing out on "vital holiday experiences" due to using social platforms, and 44% said that social media had actually ruined their holiday.

Is posting an hour-long Snapchat story of your sight-seeing day really worth it, or necessary? While your friends may want to keep updated on your exciting holiday, there is no real urgency, and photographs can be posted and shared on Facebook, Instagram etc. once you've returned home. 

Three-quarters said they actually felt like they needed to post social media updates while holidaying, as well as check platforms through fear of missing-out. 

It could be argued that it depends on the type of holiday an individual is on, which can determine what an 'acceptable' time to spend on social media is. A beach holiday is primarily for relaxing, so there shouldn't be much harm in checking your feeds or posting a classic 'legs or hotdogs' photo while topping up your tan.

Spending a majority of the time glued to your smartphone on an action-packed, sight-seeing city break could be deemed less-acceptable upon due to the possibility of missing out on activities and experiences. You'll be doing most of the sightseeing through a screen when updating Snapchat or live-streaming - if that's the case, you might as well be at home like your mates seeing everything through the screen.

Social media use on holiday could also bring more stress than relaxation, especially if you're chatting to work colleagues and get sucked into the goings-on at your workplace. The whole getting-a-break-from-work concept backfires and could defeat the whole point of your relaxing getaway. 

Of course, chatting with a loved-one or posting a jealousy-imposing beach photo does no harm and is expected. And, it's likely that social media-use while on holiday will become less frowned-upon and more of a norm than it already is, as social media and technology inevitably continue to advance.

Are you glued to your screen while away? Or do you leave your smartphone at home?