Abstract

The emergence of web 2.0 applications, such as online communities and networks, has transformed the way people seek, collect, exchange, and consume information, altering their social interactions. The establishment of communities has empowered members to engage in interactions facilitated by common interests. Instagram has emerged as a popular social networking site which has transformed the way in which individuals share and engage with visual content. With the travel and tourism industry increasing rapidly, social networking sites have become a major platform for travellers to share their journey and experiences with other like-minded individuals. This online phenomenon has allowed travellers to share their journeys and connect with other travel enthusiasts, potentially forming connections and long-time relationships, boosting social capital. This paper aims to explore social capital in Instagram’s travel network, investigating how connections, relationships and influences shape the digital travel experience, through Instagram’s affordances.

 

Introduction

The prevalence of social media in this current digital era has transformed the way in which information can be shared and accessed, and how individuals from around the globe can stay connected and communicate with one another. According to Sing (2020), “social media has become a powerful tool in everyday decision making and actions.” (p1.). Among these platforms, Social Networking Sites (SNS) particularly Instagram, has emerged as an important space, providing travellers and nomads a platform to freely share their travel experiences with a like-minded community, ultimately transforming the way in which individuals gain information and explore destinations, potentially creating a place to build a community within the travelling world. Instagram has become a central platform for travellers to document their journeys, discover new destinations, and connect with fellow adventurers. As the trend of travelling and nomadism continue to surge, the Instagram travel community stands as a crucial source for accumulating social capital and understanding the dynamics of social capital within Instagram communities. Social capital is referred to as a concept that is heavily based on sharing and reciprocating, and showing awareness in their community, where building social capital is influenced by social media (Thornton, 2017). This paper will explore how social capital operate within these online networks, examining how connections, relationships and influences shape the digital travel experience through Instagram’s various affordances such as followers, likes, comments, share and direct message.

 

Definition of Social Capital

Over the last few decades, Social Networking Sites such as Instagram have become an integral part of individuals everyday life, facilitating communication within social relationships, with social capital being a positive outcome. Social capital encompasses the combined resources and advantages present within interpersonal connections amongst individuals, communities, and networks (Chang & Chuang, 2011). This emphasizes that social capital is embedded within the relationship between individuals and their links within society. Similarly, Kumar, Goh and Balaji (2021), suggest that social capital refers to the assets acquired through interpersonal connections within social networks, serving as a platform for the exchange of knowledge, resources and value, facilitating collaborative efforts. Social capital is inherently tied to the relationship individuals maintain within their communities, fostering information sharing and encouraging word of mouth interactions within social networks. Social Capital can be classified into two types: bridging social capital which involves distant relationships and weak connections with other individuals who may offer opportunities to seek information, and bonding social capital, characterised by the close knitted relationships who offer emotional support, such as close friends and family (Reimann, Ozimek, Rohmann & Bierhoff, 2023). Social capital is influenced by human relationships, with social capital increasing when people utilise their relationships as a tool to achieve their objectives, including life satisfaction and increased self-esteem (Phua, Jin & Kim, 2017). On platforms like Instagram, the number of followers a user has sustained can be a large contributing factor in determining their potential for generating social capital (Smith, 2021). This is because when a user has a large following, it signifies a significant level of influence and reach within the platform’s community. Additionally, Instagram offers affordances that influences an individual’s social media outreach and social capital, which will be analysed specifically within the context of the travel community on Instagram.

 

Forming Connections

Social Networking Sites are popular platforms for individuals, which allow them to create a personal profile, form friendship connections and socially interact with these connections through the affordances embedded in the platforms (Phua, Jin & Kin, 2017). Instagram serves as a dynamic platform for travellers to connect with like-minded individuals, share their adventures and explore new destinations shared through these online platforms, fostering the accumulation of social capital within its online community. These connections can be established through different forms of interactions which include the platform affordance like the follows, hashtags, and captions. According to Reimann, Ozimek, Rohmann and Bierhoff (2017), Instagram provides features for interacting with others, including posting pictures, following accounts, and using hashtags to keep updated on their contents of interest. Through following accounts of interest, users are able to see posts that have been recently shared and are able to socially engage by commenting, liking or sharing the content. The structure of Instagram allows users to integrate their posts (photos/videos) with a caption or hashtag, where others can comment (Sing, 2020). Commenting on other posts plays a crucial role in building community and networks by promoting engagement and communication. Social engagement can be seen as the pillar to holding society together, giving individuals a reason and opportunity to reciprocate feelings of care and trust to one another (Thornton, 2017). Hashtags can be used as a main way to locate communities of interest. According to Smith (2021), hashtags like “#Bucketlists” for example is a tourism discourse which contain experiences from other travellers of desirable destinations and location specific activities. Through engaging with these travel related hashtags, users who are also into travelling can access an abundance of travel related hashtags and form connections with others who have posted using specific hashtag, and through engaging can potentially form long-lasting connections and community with other travel enthusiasts on Instagram. Instagram’s explore page can also serve as a starting point to form these connections. According to Lalangan (2020), Instagram’s explore page contains content which are recommended to users based on their engagement with certain posts. For example, if a user has a heavy following of travel accounts, their explore page will likely be filled with travel content. This exposure to relevant content creates an opportunity for users to connect with those who share the same passion for travelling, contributing to the formation of social capital within the Instagram travel network. According to the theoretical and empirical considerations, Reimann, Ozimek, Rohmann and Bierhoff (2023) proposed that perceived bonding social capital on Instagram correlates positively with users’ levels of life satisfaction, resulting from users engaging and viewing contents from their close friends on Instagram. Through these network affordances, users are able to increase their social capital and improve their satisfaction of life due to the ease Instagram brings in allowing connections to form and interactions to take place.

 

Maintaining Long-lasting Relationships

Over the last decade, the rapid increase in the statistics of social media users has integrated these platforms into everyday life, allowing for members within a community to stay connected and manage their connections, even forming virtual relationships and friendships. Serafinelli (2017) notes that online social relationships require an increased use of images and photo exchange to generate and manage these connections. This reliance on visual content is particularly evident on platforms like Instagram, where their main function and structure revolve around photo sharing and exchange. Within Instagram travel networks, relationships can be formed through various interactions that can be achieved through the affordances that the platform has to offer such as likes, comments, and direct messages. Filieri, Yen and Yu (2021) emphasise how Instagram allows users to connect and engage with the images posted by users through the platform affordances provided such as share, likes and comment function, with the additional tagging, editing and geotag function. These affordances empower users to not only consume the content given but also actively participate in conversations, share their experiences, and form meaningful connections that over time, may develop into a deeper relationship within the Instagram travel community, as users bond over their shared interest in travelling and their experience. Choi, Kim, Cha, Suh and Kim (2019) proposed that online communities foster parasocial interactions through various cues, including the design elements such as the platforms affordances, creating a sense of communication with a person rather than a machine. This suggests that social networking site, particularly Instagram, serves as an alternative channel for expanding social relationships, which can be highlighted through the travel community. As noted by Spottswood and Wohn (2020), social media makes it easier to maintain and stay connected to a larger and diverse social network including their close relationships. This enhanced connectivity allows for seamless exchange of resources and information in a timely manner, further contributing to the accumulation of social capital. This is especially evident in the travel community on Instagram as there has been a major increase in the tourism industry leading to a corresponding influx in travel enthusiast accounts, with users sharing their explorations and travel experiences with the world. According to Dorn (2015), Instagram fosters a virtual bond between members of online communities such as VanLife, due to the common values and desires, which in turn builds a sense of connection and togetherness potentially developing into lifelong relationships. The influx of travel content generated not only inspires and informs other travellers, but also fosters a sense of community within the Instagram travel network, further strengthening the virtual relationship developed on the platform, ultimately enhancing social capital.

 

Influencers’ Influence

Instagram travel influencers hold a significant influence over travel trends and travel decisions within the Instagram travel network, but also contributes to the accumulation of social capital within the travel community. With Instagram serving as a central hub for travel related content, influencers play a crucial role in maintaining connections and building relationships with their followers. According to Smith (2021), the popular photo-sharing platform, Instagram is closely linked with the tourism sector, with millions of users and influencers actively participating in the platforms travel community. This highlights the symbolic relationship between Instagram and the tourism industry, bringing emphasis on how Instagram serves as a hub for travel related content and interactions. The platform affordance of the follow function allows users to stay updated on the accounts they follow. Influencers who have gained a large enough follower on Instagram are more likely to attract more attention and are in effect, businesspeople (Smith, 2021). This is because those with a greater following have more visibility and creditability on the platform, broadening their reach, ultimately leading to a higher level of engagements on their posts. The sense of visibility and creditability translates into greater engagement levels, as stated by Lalangan (2020), who suggests that travel influencers on Instagram often establish stronger connections with travel seekers compared to the destination seller themselves, because travel seekers choose to actively engage in the contents generated by influencers. These influencers play a significant role in shaping the reputation of travel destinations, as travellers often search for tips and recommendations when planning trips and are heavily influenced by image generated content which capture the attention of travellers. This influence extends beyond individual travel decisions, as claimed by Le Busque, Mingoia and Litchfield (2020), who argues that travel related content and experiences generated by influencers have a significant impact on the choices made by travellers, while simultaneously providing researchers with valuable data to understand current tourism trends. According to Femenia-Serra, Gretzel, U and Alzua-Sorzabal (2022), to foster a long-lasting bond with their audience, influencers are compelled to engage their followers emotionally and integrate them into their daily lives by offering a glimpse into their routines, being accessible, intimate and genuine. This can be achieved through sharing impromptu selfies, hosting live streaming or question and answer sessions, which assists in maintaining audience engagement and foster stronger connections. By involving followers emotionally and making them a part of their lives, influencers strengthen the bonds of trust and reciprocity within the travel community which increases their social capital.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, social media has undoubtedly had a transformative impact on the way individuals connect, communicate, and share information within the travel community, especially on Instagram. As mentioned by Sing (2020), social media has become a powerful tool shaping everyday decision-making processes and actions, with Instagram emerging as a platform for the travel community to freely share their journeys with like-minded individuals. Through thorough research, finding highlighted the positive relationship between social capital and Instagram travel networks, specifically its significance in fostering connections, relationships and influences. Instagram serves as a platform for accumulating social capital embedded within interpersonal connections, communities and networks. The exploration of bridging and bonding social capital within the context of Instagram travel networks highlights the importance of both distant and close-knit relationships in shaping the digital travel experience. after examining connections, relationships and influences within the Instagram travel community, it is evident that the platforms affordances have a positive impact in facilitating interactions and community building. The formation of virtual bonds through constant engagements through the like, comment, direct messages, follow and other functions on Instagram serves as dynamic platform for social capital to continuously be collected and exchanged. These affordances also foster the formation of connections, long term relationships and the exchange of travel related experience. As users engage with shared content and interact with fellow travellers, social capital accumulates, providing a sense of community within the Instagram travel network. Instagram travel influencers have a significant influence over shaping travel trends and decisions. These influencers, through their self-generated content and engaged followers, contribute to the accumulation of social capital within the travel community, by fostering emotional engagement and authenticity, which strengthens the bond with their audience, enhancing trust and reciprocity. Overall, Instagram’s platform affordances assist in offering users a method to stay connected and develop long lasting relationships within the travelling world, boosting social capital.  

 

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