The idea of "keeping up with the Joneses" was developed as a phenomenon wherein people want to own the same objects and do the same things as their peers in order to keep up with them socially. Along with the combined rise of globalisation, mobile technology, and the millennial mindset of valuing experiences over material possessions, this research qualitatively examines how travel has become a marker of status among certain subpopulations of the millennial cohort, along with identifying idiosyncrasies of their social networking habits in conjunction with their travel behaviours. Ascending opportunities for travel and tourism marketing practitioners are denoted. 

The emergence and standardization of social networking sites (SNS) has completely changed the landscape of the travel industry in recent years creating an environment where travel experiences are traded online ceaselessly, and more than ever before in history. To better understand the motivations of today’s travelers, a better understanding of the uses and behaviours of those posting and reviewing travel content on SNS is important. This research qualitatively examined both the SNS posting and reviewing behaviours in the travel and tourism context among members of the millennial cohort and determines that the visual aspect of travel-related content is of foremost importance for both creation and impression of postings on social networks. Furthermore, the findings emphasized Instagram as a preeminent platform, over alternative social networks like Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat.

Smartphone technology has changed the scope of onsite travel behaviors and photographing practices. This paper explores the destination response of the Tourist Board of Vienna with their “anti-hashtag” marketing campaign, aimed at encouraging visitors to go offline while traveling in the city. Through a series of interviews, the motivations for the campaign, along with the initial approaches and outcomes for the campaign are studied using narrative analysis. The results indicate a positive response to the campaign, and potential models for similar destinations to manage similar visitor social networking and photographic behaviors are considered. Additionally, there are both academic and industry implications discussed.