Forget the 'selfie': holidaymakers go for 'braggie' photos

The Oxford Dictionary may have named “selfie” the word of the year for 2013, but British tourists are using their holiday photographs as “braggies” to boast about their travels to friends and family on social media 

According to a poll of 2,000 people for the Hotels.com mobile app, 5.4 million British tourists have uploaded their pictures within just ten minutes of arriving at their holiday destination. Twenty-five per cent of British travellers share a photo within an hour, although the average time people wait before boasting is almost three hours (174.5 minutes).

Among the top ten things people capture when using their smartphone or tablet on holiday are the “view from the hotel window”, “my bed” and the “surrounding area and landscape” such as the beach or pool.

Almost three-quarters of those questioned (72 per cent) used smartphones to take and share photos while on holiday, with the most popular platform being Facebook.

What’s more, a third of Britons take and share photos that involve only themselves when they arrive on holiday, be it surrounded by cocktails, by the beach or pool, or pulling the latest trendy face, such as the questionable ‘duckface’ – pursing one’s lips and pouting at the camera.

The survey found that among the top ten photos taken were also “myself in sunglasses”, “myself in swimwear” and “my bed”. 

Users can’t resist using apps to tweak photos before posting them: the Hotels.com mobile app research found that 6.5 million people crop unflattering shots before posting. Men were more likely to do this than women – five percent of males admitted to doing so, versus two percent of women.
Whether those uploading within ten minutes of arriving at their holiday destination wait until they can access a Wi-Fi network was not made clear.