If you are reading this while lounging on the beach after finishing a ‘Selfie’ photo shoot, it seems many beachgoers are guilty of taking a snapshot of oneself on the sand and many are guilty of being a ‘braggie'.
A popular beach in southern France has agreed to a ban on holidaymakers taking and sharing ‘holiday spam’ images on their smartphones, including selfies, belfies, beach feet and sunsets.
The beach authorities have worked with mobile network ‘Three’ to impose the ban on a section of the Garoupe beach following a significant rise in the number of British holidaymakers flooding social media with ‘holiday spam’.
The beach has said 'au revior' to selfie snaps after research by Three has revealed that one in three British holiday makers put bragging in their top five vacation activities with the beach being the most common backdrop for Brits to engage in the phenomenon that is ‘holiday spamming’.
The beach has been allocated a ‘No Braggies Zone’ which will be designated on the beach throughout the peak August holiday rush., creating a brag-free haven for those weary of seeing beachgoers spending their whole time on the sand taking shots of their own face, hot dog legs, sandy feet and flamboyant umbrella-topped cocktails.
No 'Braggies' Zone in France
In order to ensure other holidaymakers are protected from bragging beachgoers, a crack team of ’Holiday Spam Police' will be patrolling the sands to enforce the rules throughout the period the ban is in place.
Three and the beach authorities are also making an example of celebrities deemed to be the worst offenders when it comes to holiday spamming, with outright bans for any famous faces whose holiday bragging tendencies have been well documented in the past.
Three has taken the decision to introduce the ban in order to encourage holidaymakers to be more responsible when it comes to bragging abroad, having noticed a sharp increase in the level of holiday spam infiltrating people’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts after the network decided to scrap data roaming fees in 16 international destinations.
A spokesperson for the beach said: “The Garoupe beaches are among the most glamorous and pristine beaches in all of France. However, we want people to be able to enjoy our exclusive beach in the moment, not spending the majority of their time here uploading selfies and sunsets to brag to their friends and family back home.”
Tom Malleschitz, marketing director, Three concluded: “We’re sorry. Sorry that the addition of France to our Feel At Home feature, which allows our customers to use their phones abroad at no extra cost, has seen a massive increase in the quantity of holiday spam being sent from this beach. The ban is an extreme measure, but one that we think is needed if we’re to motivate people to brag more responsibly abroad and share only the finest photos of their holidays on social media.”
The ban coincides with Three’s ‘Tag A Bragger’ social media competition, which encourages Britons to nominate friends guilty of holiday spamming by tagging their images #holidayspam. For more information go to www.twitter.com/ThreeUK or http://instagram.com/ThreeUK/