It's a particularly warm and humid afternoon in Goa. But humidity is no deterrent to the hordes of Instagram reel makers coming to Para Road. Some people pose while riding bicycles, while others pose while riding bicycles. And then there are those who sit in the middle of the road and pout as the sun beats down relentlessly. but why? That's simply because this narrow road lined with coconut palms was featured in his 2016 film Dear Zindagi, starring Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhatt. Check out Instagram and you'll find dozens of #DearZindagiRoad and #ParraRoad reels.
Author Bina Nayak, who lives near the now-famous Pala Road, says she has known Pala Road since it became an Instagram phenomenon when a few tourists used to ask her for directions to the street. I am reminiscing about the circumstances. She admits there was a moment of frustration when she hoped the coconut would fall and the shoot would be interrupted. “There are probably 100 other streets in Goa exactly like this,” she says.
The Pala road was later abolished as it caused a headache for the locals who had to use it frequently every day, so much so that a 'swachhata tax' was proposed. The pandemic has made the situation even worse. While the country was on lockdown, Goa reopened for business a little earlier and influencers were among the first to emerge, Bina recalls. In fact, it was the influencer rush and sight at Para that inspired Bina to write his Goagr@m. The piece ends with a sympathetic look at the influencer ecosystem, with a focus on fashion she influencers who come to Goa to create their vlogs or create their Insta reels.
Whether you're looking for the door featured in the 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill on Portobello Road in London or the crepe displays on Takeshita Street in Tokyo's Harajuku, you'll find the timeless reel maker wherever you travel. can. By the way, both spots are featured heavily on Instagram.
How have platforms rewired the way we get around? We can now take in the beauty of a landscape, enjoy a spectacular sunrise, and connect to the sights and sounds of a place without having to swing our phones around. Have I forgotten how to have fun? Bina sighed. Even before the social media sharing frenzy started, I remember feeling like constantly taking and posing for photos would take away from the moment. “Memory is magic,” she says. That's because it adds layers to what we see, hear, and feel in a place – things that can't be captured in a photograph. Today, we seem to have outsourced our memories, and nostalgia itself has disappeared, she lamented, noting how social media platforms sometimes dredge up “memories.”
Devya Bopanna, a Mumbai-based writer and ad agency co-founder, recently posted on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter): None of the places I visit look as great as they look on Instagram. He went on to say that his experience in Chichen Itza, Mexico, was “disappointing” and that he went there with high expectations. He found the place “barren” and “full of lizards”. Similarly, many places in Kashmir were not as impressive as expected, he added. “Standing in such a beautiful, scenic and tranquil place must have stirred something inside me. I'm not blaming the place itself. I would have loved them if it wasn't clouded by the filter.”
The post caused quite a stir on X, with many people feeling the same way, with one commenting: “So…quit Instagram.” Isn't that the problem? Devaiah said: There is a flip side to everything. People complain about big tech using their personal data, but I've met people who say, “Sorry, but I'm not going to use Google Maps because Google takes my data.” there is not. ”
Shivya Nath is a well-known sustainable travel advocate and influencer with over 100,000 followers on Instagram. “I actively avoid Instagrammable places, but sometimes I end up in Instagrammable places without even realizing it,” she says. She recalls being hiking in the Ecuadorian Andes when a local suggested she go to a remote hut that felt like “the end of the world.” On the spot, she was shocked to see a crowd of people. So what was all the fuss about? Everyone was rushing to take pictures on the swing that has become an Instagram phenomenon! “The hut itself had turned into a tourist attraction where you had to pay an entrance fee. It was great to see people taking turns on the swings and clicking pictures as if they were all alone, when the reality is very different. It was interesting. As we continued our hike, we found a similar swing set a few hundred meters away, but it didn't get our attention because Instagram hadn't provided any information yet.” writes Shivya from Taiwan.
Sivir, author of the book The Shooting Star: A Girl, Her Backpack and the World, continues: Days of bad food, nostalgia for places that have changed for the worse, accommodation nightmares, stressful bank balance days…but the truth of these little trips often trumps the glamorous travel photos. It gets buried beneath the surface, making the life of an eternal traveler seem boring. It's a little too perfect. ”
Is the medium the message?
Perhaps when it comes to Instagram, the medium is the message. “Instagram as a platform has a low barrier to entry. You can join the platform by simply uploading a photo or video, and the people consuming it are mindlessly scrolling. X, on the other hand, is a text-based platform and is meant for sharing ideas. , requires some reading,” says Devaiah.
Sarita, a copy editor and content writer based in Kathmandu, recently returned from a trip to Japan. Her friends who traveled with her collected her travel recommendations from Reddit and other friends who have traveled to the country. “I saved a list of places from Instagram, but they didn't make the final shortlist,” she says, adding that posts of cafes and restaurants that look great on Instagram get average reviews on Google. added.
So what was her real experience in Japan? Sarita found Kyoto overwhelming, she felt. She talks about how she skipped the often photographed bamboo groves of Arashiyama. This is because the park opens early in the morning and crowds start arriving within 30 minutes. User-generated reviews online If you look at her site, you'll see that it's not the gorgeous forest it seems on her Instagram.
Another experience that wasn't that big of a deal for Sarita was the famous Shibuya scramble featured in “Lost in Translation.” “I'm someone who has seen the crowds in Mumbai. For most of us South Asians, this is not an unfamiliar sight at all,” she says. She enjoyed visiting Japanese spots that aren't often talked about on her Instagram, such as the Cup Noodles Museum in Osaka and the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo.
As for Japan, recent reports suggest that large barriers will be erected to block views of the iconic Mount Fuji. It is a popular observation deck because the mountain peak appears to cover the convenience store, creating visual drama. Reports say tourists are crowding into the small area, blocking sidewalks and disturbing the peace. Venice, Italy, is also in the news for imposing a tax on day-trippers entering the city. Thanks to Instagram and other social media platforms, overtourism has become a serious problem.
Shivya says: “It often breaks my heart to see how Instagram is amplifying the negative effects of travel. Geotagging has destroyed pristine nature through overcrowding and irresponsible behavior. A sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) towards tourism is increasing around the world, leading to environmental degradation and erosion of lifestyles.”
Currently residing in London, Sudeepta Sanyal is the co-founder of an experiential travel company in Mumbai, where she designs customized travel itineraries for her clients. Does she see clients asking her to plan holidays based on things they see on Instagram? Travelers often ask us about bed and breakfasts that look luxurious but are actually far from the city centre, and we help them manage their expectations and keep things real.” she explains.
On the issue of overtourism, she says she often tells her customers to consider other options. For example, if Venice is suffering from overtourism, what about other cities with beautiful canals? Also, the company does not collaborate with influencers on her Instagram, preferring to keep things real. “For example, Colmar is a quaint town in France, but it gets very crowded in the summer. When our clients want to go to the Christmas market, we tell them they need to keep in mind that it's very cold at this time of year. ” said Sudeepta, adding: Influencers. ”
Never succeed if you fake it!
In the age of AI and editing apps, it's very easy to fake vacation photos. An American company unapologetically called 'Fake A Vacation' made headlines when it launched a service that provides photos of destinations to people who can't go on vacation but want to prove they've been.
In 2020, American Instagram influencer Natalia Taylor successfully faked a vacation to Bali as part of an experiment to see if people could see through everything. She recreated her vacation at an IKEA store and her followers believed it. According to reports at the time, she posted the fake vacation photos to prove a point – to tell her followers not to believe everything posted on the internet. There are many YouTube videos of influencers showing off their successful fake vacations on Instagram. Fake vacations became popular during the pandemic, when lockdowns and social distancing kept people from leaving their homes.
However, the word “fabrication” has a different meaning. It turns on an auto-reply for emails and outgoing voicemail messages to tell him you're “out of office” and on vacation, when in reality you're working on pending work and don't want to be disturbed. It is a case.
Published May 19, 2024, 01:03 IST
