Brits Love To Boast When Abroad

by Shabana Adam | 30 June 2012

"Sitting by the pool..." we love to make our colleagues envious

Britain is a nation of show-off’s as new research from T-Mobile has revealed that six in ten Brits can’t live without ‘smoasting’ (boasting on social media) whilst on holiday.

Whether it be checking themselves in at exotic locations or iconic sites on Facebook, status updates on Twitter about their time in the sun or uploading pictures of jet-setting adventures on instagram, British holidaymakers are not afraid to brag.

With social media being integral in our modern lives, smoasting has snowballed into a trend, with over half of Brits having admitted to checking themselves in at a famous landmark, uploading smug shots of themselves at the beach or enjoying a fancy meal whilst on holiday, all to show off to their family and friends.

Posting updates on social networking sites, while we’re on holiday, is the modern day version of sending a postcard

Even the famous are guilty, as the research shows that celebrities are doing their fair share of smoasting too, with people believing the top five most prolific are, the whole TOWIE cast, Rihanna, Victoria Beckham, Made in Chelsea cast and X-factor judge Tulisa.

The survey also found that 45 per cent will only tag themselves at a location if it’s glamorous and makes them look good, while a fifth do it purely to make other people jealous. Three in ten say they would deliberately write a boastful holiday status to make people at home envious with six in ten defending their bold behaviour by insisting if they are happy then they have a right to shout about it online, as well as half of these saying it’s fine because “everyone else does it”.

Admittedly, four in ten do it just because they think it’s amusing to wind others up and 15 per cent of people surveyed said they simply sing their own praises about their holiday online, just to target an ex-partner they wanted to make jealous.

Psychologist, Jo Hemmings, said: “The T-Mobile research shows that we Brits have totally embraced the concept of social networking, so it’s no wonder that 60 per cent of people need to feel in contact when they are on holiday, and many of us like to check in daily.

“We’re not an especially boastful nation – we usually tend to play down our achievements but social networking has enabled us to post updates and photos about what we’re up to anywhere in the world. Posting updates on social networking sites, while we’re on holiday, is the modern day version of sending a postcard – but of course is much more fun, having a wider audience and a far greater reach,” she explained.

The Northern Irish were found to be the most likely to smoast whilst they are away (70 per cent) with the Scottish and Londoners coming in closely behind. People from East Anglia get angry about other people’s Facebook and Twitter updates; with over half saying it is because others are showing off.

As four in ten Brits log-on to Facebook and Twitter at least once a day whilst abroad, T-Mobile has launched internet and broadband travel boosters for those smoasters amongst us who just can’t stay off the social scene back home.

A T-Mobile spokesperson said: “With the holiday season fast approaching, more and more people will want to use social media whilst away on holiday. As a result we have introduced the Internet and Broadband Travel Boosters - this brand new system gives our customers the unbeatable re-assurance that they will never pay more than they expect, anywhere in the world for the use of any mobile data.”