There is nothing that ruins the illusion of social media like seeing content being produced in the wild.
Before we went to Japan, we watched plenty of Youtube videos about popular tourist sites, favorite foods, and plenty of random other videos that gave us a glimpse of life in Japan.
But once we arrived, we saw a lot of social media content being made in before our eyes. Walking through Nishiki Market we saw lots of people posing with their food, which seems less like content production and more like people taking photos of their vacations. The content producers were different, they were more like models going through a series of poses for the camera. A coy over the shoulder glance, a cheery pose with one foot kicked up, a look of wonder, and repeat.
At Fushimi Inari I found that the picture I most recognize from social media comes from the first length of pathway - the first 100 feet of a 2.5 mile walk. And we saw many content producers filming in the first 15 minutes of our slow walk through the tori tunnels (when they film, everyone behind them stops). But they all disappeared by the time we were halfway up the mountain. We saw them at almost every popular site, getting the shot, checking the footage, then running on to the next location.
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Seeing content producers wasn’t part of the educational agenda, but it was great to observe with our tween and teen. They aren’t on social media now, but they see the edges of it in Youtube Shorts. It ended up spurring many conversations: “Is this their vacation? Or work?” and “Are they even seeing the sites or just filming in front of them?” My teen and I had a long conversation about being a tourist at an active religious temple/shrine - and woven into it was also what it meant to be a content producer filming with a sacred site as their backdrop. (Also, how does shift when you translate the inscriptions on the toris and realize that they are listing the corporate sponsors.)
Sure, we have talked about content production before - like, communicating how tasty food is. In real life we don’t usually shout “OMG! this is so amazing! Wow, the crisp exterior gives way to the creamy center…” but how else do you end a cooking video or communicate that it tastes good?
When adults and kids are all gobsmacked by the realities of filming for social media, we are all grappling with what it means to be a content producer. It certainly takes the shine off. But also makes we wonder if there is a line between vacation photos, which I am sharing as part of my newsletter content, and this kind of mobile photo studio that some content producers rely on. I guess I keep coming back to the question: Is the location a backdrop for you, or are you snapping photos to remember your visit? I mean, I am certainly not sharing my red, sweaty face from the top of Mt Inari - I don’t look photoshoot ready after hiking up 12,000 steps.