Selfies and Self-Photography in Nature
Presenter Hometown
Nicholasville, KY
Major
Therapeutic Recreation
Department
Recreation and Park Administration
Degree
Graduate
Mentor
Michael J. Bradley
Mentor Department
Recreation and Park Administration
Recommended Citation
Staley, Laura, "Selfies and Self-Photography in Nature" (2018). University Presentation Showcase Event. 9.
https://encompass.eku.edu/swps/2018/graduate/9
Abstract
The popularity of self-photography has significantly increased since then and people capture these pictures on various occasions. Whether that be in the bathroom mirror, at school, in the car, at festivities, or even in Kentucky’s State Parks. The patrons who take selfies while visiting state parks are an opportunity for recreation professionals to promote these areas. A selfie can most commonly be found on social networking sites, such as, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Social-media networks are a real-time digital lifestyle for people today. People spend a large portion of their day looking at their phones, about every six minutes (Willard, 2013). To identify why individuals take their self-photographs at these natural locations and then post them onto social media would be beneficial in discovering how to increase visitation at these sites. This opportunity can be used to market the area to more people who are to be viewed as potential and future visitors. In this study, the researchers surveyed individuals at random who were selected from either Cumberland Falls State Park or Natural Bridge State Park about their motivations for taking selfies while at these natural locations. This study was implemented to identify the reasoning’s behind why individuals take self-photography, as well as identify why they post said pictures onto social media cites. The research and data gathered can be used to implement the findings in marketing tactics to promote parks and encourage the expansion of visitation rates.
Presentation format
Poster
Selfies and Self-Photography in Nature
The popularity of self-photography has significantly increased since then and people capture these pictures on various occasions. Whether that be in the bathroom mirror, at school, in the car, at festivities, or even in Kentucky’s State Parks. The patrons who take selfies while visiting state parks are an opportunity for recreation professionals to promote these areas. A selfie can most commonly be found on social networking sites, such as, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Social-media networks are a real-time digital lifestyle for people today. People spend a large portion of their day looking at their phones, about every six minutes (Willard, 2013). To identify why individuals take their self-photographs at these natural locations and then post them onto social media would be beneficial in discovering how to increase visitation at these sites. This opportunity can be used to market the area to more people who are to be viewed as potential and future visitors. In this study, the researchers surveyed individuals at random who were selected from either Cumberland Falls State Park or Natural Bridge State Park about their motivations for taking selfies while at these natural locations. This study was implemented to identify the reasoning’s behind why individuals take self-photography, as well as identify why they post said pictures onto social media cites. The research and data gathered can be used to implement the findings in marketing tactics to promote parks and encourage the expansion of visitation rates.
