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Why not both? Sunbathers work on their tan while using their mobile devices. Photo: Nora Tam

Ego over adventure? How travelling Hongkongers are using social media to make their friends envious

Survey shows travellers post pictures just to show off, spend two hours or more on social media

Is travelling about the journey, the destination ... or one-upping your friends online? It could well be the latter for Hongkongers, more than a third of whom check in at locations on social media just to make their friends envious.

In a survey conducted by London-based market researcher OnePoll and commissioned by Hotels.com last month, 36 per cent of Hong Kong travellers admitted to using social media for that very reason. An even larger proportion, 42 per cent, admitted to uploading photos just to show off.

The poll covered 9,200 adult travellers from 31 countries or regions, including 300 from Hong Kong.

The reseachers said most Hong Kong travellers – 95 per cent of those polled – spent two hours a day on social media channels, while more than one-fifth spent more than three hours daily.

Some 46 per cent said they had commented on friends’ posts just so they did not miss out on anything while abroad.

The results showed that travelling Hongkongers spent 59 per cent more time glued to their smartphones than in sunbeds, dedicating on average 1.6 hours a day to topping up their tan, compared to 2.5 hours a day glaring at their mobile devices.

Eleven per cent spent more than five hours a day with their gadgets.

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