社交媒体让我们发现了越来越多令人心动的旅行目的地，其中不少地方我们原本可能都没听说过。但与此同时，它也让不少人在做旅游攻略时投入了更多精力。一些研究开始关注这样一个问题：当人们过度依赖社交媒体来规划、体验和分享假期时，会发生什么？在刷了无数张照片、做了好几版行程安排之后，当你真正抵达目的地时，那份本该拥有的兴奋和惊喜是否会被冲淡？本文将通过多项研究结果，带大家一起看看追求 “完美假期” 的利与弊。

词汇：holiday plans 假期计划

1  It's written in Positive Psychology and Tourism that recreational travel is essential for our happiness, well-being and quality of life. It may also increase creativity by giving people permission to break free of ordinary patterns, helping them to conceptualise new ideas, as studied by American psychologist, JP Guilford. According to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, those who travel, even more so, travel abroad, tend to be more open, aware and emotionally stable. 

2  But for some, summer is a project. A mood board. A glowing expectation that hangs over the few months making it something to live up to. It can carry a pressure to be optimised and remembered. A Holiday Mental Health Report from 2025 found that nearly 69% of Americans feel pressure to appear happier than they actually are, with many describing events as obligations rather than genuine enjoyment. It was seen that millennials and Gen Z respondents experience a high degree of pressure. So, why is this?

3  Increasingly, social media plays a role in what we expect summer to be and how we choose to experience it. A study named The Impact of Social Media on the Travel and Tourism Industry shows that social media can shape how we plan our holidays. Statistics taken from a 2023 online survey of around 3,000 travellers from different countries shows that 75% of people were inspired by social media to travel to a specific destination. 57% were likely to capture content for their social media accounts, and the top motivation for 49% of respondents was to have their holiday in a place that will look great in photos and videos.

4 Social media can make travel feel more accessible, especially for people who rely on recommendations rather than traditional travel guides or word-of-mouth. But there is a down-side to this. It's written in How the Intention to Share Can Undermine Enjoyment: Photo-Taking Goals and Evaluation of Experiences, that people who take photos just to share them enjoy experiences less. Their holidays are imagined, curated, and shaped in advance. Sometimes moments are even enhanced or staged. This is due to the pressure to present in a certain way. And, as explained in the same article, we're more likely to feel underwhelmed or even downright disappointed if our reality feels different to how we imagined it photographed through a lens.

5  It can surely be said that, because of social media, we can more easily create itineraries and lists of all the places we want to go. Snapping pictures of pretty places isn't necessarily wrong, but doing so with only the intention to post on social media can make us feel stressed. Social media can be a detriment to travel and make you feel like you have to live up to an expectation of what the perfect summer looks like. But let's not forget the same platforms can inspire exploration and help people discover moments that they might never have found otherwise. 

测验与练习

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 _______
Paragraph 2 _______
Paragraph 3 _______
Paragraph 4 _______
Paragraph 5 _______

a. Why we should have holidays
b. Social media shapes our holidays
c. The science of taking photos
d. The pressure to plan to perfect holiday
e. Why holidays can disappoint
f.  Take pictures, but don’t put pressure on it

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. Holidays are important for our overall well-being.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

2. According to the article, why can summer feel like a project?
a. Because people have more free time.
b. Because people feel pressure to use and enjoy it.
c. Because holidays in summer are more expensive, so you need to work more to pay for them.

3. How has social media influenced travel decisions?
a. People are choosing destinations based on visual appeal.
b. People ignore travel advice online.
c. People only use travel agents.

4. Taking photos always makes people enjoy their holiday more.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

5. The article says tourists should avoid travelling to popular landmarks.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

Some holidays are carefully 1) _______, each activity planned so it looks perfect. Some people 2) _______ social media to plan their 3) _______, for their holiday while thinking about how others will view it. Some even carefully 4) _______ moments to make them seem more exciting. In the end, despite all the planning, they may still feel slightly 5) _______.

curated
itinerary
word-of-mouth
genuine 
rely on
stage
underwhelmed

（答案见词汇表后）

词汇表

recreational 娱乐的，消遣的
conceptualise 构思，使…概念化
stable 稳定的
mood board 情绪板，汇集多种想法或元素的视觉看板
live up to 达到（预期），不辜负
optimise 优化
genuine 真正的，真诚的
capture 捕捉，拍摄
content 内容，素材
accessible 容易得到的，易于获取的
rely on 依赖，依靠
word-of-mouth 口口相传，口碑
undermine 削弱，损害
curate （精心）策划，精选
enhance 精修美化，加滤镜
stage 刻意安排，精心布置
underwhelmed 感到平淡的，失望的
downright 彻底地，完全地
lens 镜头
itinerary 行程安排
snap 随手拍（照片）
detriment 带来弊端、产生负面影响

答案

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 a) Why we should have holidays
Paragraph 2 d) The pressure to plan to perfect holiday
Paragraph 3 b) Social media shapes our holidays
Paragraph 4 e) Why holidays can disappoint
Paragraph 5 f)  Take pictures, but don’t put pressure on it 

二 、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. a. True. It's written in Positive psychology and tourism that recreational travel is essential for our happiness, well-being and quality of life.

2. b. For some, summer is a project. A mood board. A glowing expectation that hangs over the few months like something to live up to.

3. a. 40% of millennials choose destinations based on how good they would make their social media profile look.

4. b. False. It's written in How the Intention to Share Can Undermine Enjoyment: Photo-Taking Goals and Evaluation of Experiences, that people who take photos just to share them enjoy experiences less.

5. c. Not given. The text does not say that tourists should avoid landmarks. 

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

Some holidays are carefully curated, each activity planned so it looks perfect. Some people rely on social media to plan their itinerary for their holiday while thinking about how others will view it. Some even carefully stage moments to make them seem more exciting. In the end, despite all the planning, they may still feel slightly underwhelmed.