Author: Jim Carlton
Source: The Wall Street Journal (https://www.wsj.com/articles/instagram-turns-obscure-u-s-sights-into-social-media-destinations-11562410801)
Internet and internet companies like Instagram, Facebook, etc have made access to data/information very easy and have helped people across the world come more close. People are sharing their information on a real time basis and one of the unexpected beneficiaries out of it is the tourism sector. People are sharing photos of their vacations on social sites and indirectly turning obscure places into social-media destinations. Horseshoe Bend (a 1,000-foot drop-off at a natural attraction), part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Page, Arizona has witnessed huge surge in tourist arrivals (two million visit annually Vs 40,000 people annually decade ack) due to people posting their pictures in front of Horsebend on social media.
“Visits to U.S. national parks increased 11.6% between 2009 and 2018, according to government statistics. They jumped even more at places such as Utah’s Zion National Park (up 59%) and Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park (up 49%), which park advocates say have been among the most popular for social media posts.”
However, unplanned growth brings with it many challenges like environmental, safety and traffic.
“Across the U.S., smartphone-wielding masses are converging on picturesque attractions that many learned of on social media. The teeming crowds are creating problems that range from traffic to trash to deaths. Five people have fallen off the edge of Horseshoe Bend and died since 2017. The last such fatality had been in 2010, according to National Park Service statistics. People have also fallen while taking pictures at the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. California’s Big Sur coast and Colorado’s Hanging Lake have been soiled by trampling of vegetation and discarded human waste.”
Social media is here to stay and we will have to learn to manage the negatives of it & keep adapting ourself.

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