The Absence of Everydayness in Social Media Images from Hiking Trips: Sharing the Epic

Social media is an integral aspect of the daily lives of billions of individuals, reaching also to their engagement in outdoor activities and nature tourism. This chapter presents the findings of a study on social media posts shared by visitors to a nature tourism destination in northern Finland. Employing netnographic methods, machine vision, and a blend of quantitative and qualitative analyses, the chapter explores the representation of everyday experiences in social media posts, which typically highlight the most noteworthy moments. The objective of the study is to discover innovative approaches to comprehend visitor behaviour in protected recreational areas in the postdigital era. The authors claim that individuals experience nature not only in the physical outdoors but also through online platforms. This digital engagement contributes to the social construction of the concept of nature and shapes expectations for future visits to the destination. The results show that social media has the potential to craft an inspiring yet potentially limited image of wilderness areas, which potentially downplays the essential skills and equipment necessary for safely experiencing the Arctic environment.