They get quite a bit of flak, perhaps a lot more than they deserve to be honest, but so-called Instagram travellers deserve a break. There are many other names they’re called, like social media travellers or even Facebook travellers, simply because of their seemingly narcissistic approach to their travels that has them stopping every now and then for a selfie or even going as far as documenting their entire trip with something like a Go-Pro camera.

Perhaps I’m a bit biased as a result of the fact that I may not be too far off from the typical mould of an Instagram traveller, being a travel blogger and all that, but there are some valid reasons, I think, why so-called social media travellers deserve a break.

At the Forefront of the Positive Effects of Globalisation

It takes a lot of skill to produce the great images and videos these so-called Instagram travellers deem to be good enough to upload to their social networking platforms and their blogs/vlogs, which in many cases requires them to elevate their efforts to a professional level. Consequently many industries are developing around this, such as how camera equipment manufacturers are coming out with better, higher quality products to meet the demands of the market.

Geo-ignorant people from all over the world are also getting to see some new places they could potentially visit, do business with/in or just learn more about, so too the people of those places which are documented by the so-called Instagram travellers.

Ushering-In the Next Wave of Human Development

There is a new wave of human development playing out and the travellers who document every aspect of their trips are at the forefront of this development. For example, peer-rating systems such as those which are used by the likes of Uber and AirBnB are the future of human development and the future is now.

How else are you going to know where to sleep on your next trip to a certain place if it wasn’t for the ratings, pictures, and reviews of these fellows?

Driving Socio-Economic Evolution and Paradigm Shifts

We can perhaps throw full-on digital nomads into the mix as social media bloggers who deserve a break, this time on the premise of their major contribution to driving socio-economic evolution and the associated paradigm shifts. This group of people is dragging the rest of the world into the 21st century, where it belongs, by simply opening up gaps in markets where none had previously existed. I mean looking at the dynamic nature of the relationships of the likes of digital nomads for example, who are always on the go, were it not for their dynamic legal needs in relation to their relationships, would legal professionals such as Prime Lawyers evolve to offer services such as those dealing with de facto relationships? Probably very slowly, if at all…

Now, considering the otherwise precarious nature of de facto relationships which are typically characteristic of the digital nomad lifestyle, their seemingly narcissistic capturing of every moment while on their travels could contribute to the creation of much-needed evidence to prove that there was indeed some kind of relationship, should there be a need of course.