Haters gonna hate, but I promise I’m not a hater – I’m on social media too. My Instagram is Disney-themed, too. I dress up in cute outfits and take a bunch of photos and some video, too. So will you at least hear me out when I say that some content creation in the parks has gotten, um… irritating?
We are venturing into Old Man Shakes Fist At Cloud/You Kids Get Off My Lawn territory, I know, and yet…
*SHAKES FIST AT SOCIAL MEDIA*
I know TikTok dances are The Thing, but I see so many videos of people doing these dances in areas of Walt Disney World that are out in busy public spaces. Obviously this is a problem if a dancer is blocking a walkway, but I also see dances directly in front of important visual cues.
You know how sometimes you’re about to walk past a fountain or a vista or a ride sign, but stop yourself so you don’t walk into the frame of someone taking a photo? Or you wait your turn to snap a pic in the same place? Okay, now imagine your courtesy pause takes WAY LONGER. Never mind people who are at WDW for the first time and just want to, like, see stuff unobstructed.
*SHAKES FIST AT LIVESTREAMING*
Hold please; I have another complaint. 😅
I have accepted that livestreaming and vlogging is a Big Thing at Disney parks. While I don’t always like it, as I said above, I take some of my own videos so who am I to judge? Jerks with bright lights on dark rides, lifting their equipment in the sight lines of other people, talking loudly over attraction audio, etc. are, well, jerks. There have always been and will always be jerks; what can ya do.
However, social media has now spawned a brand new problem: the livestream bombardment of the end user. I can scarcely scroll through my Insta feed at night without closing a slew of messages informing me such-and-such account has gone live with a ride or show. This is not something I need, but maybe others do; I don’t know. Are the streamers getting in the way of the other people actually watching with them on site, though? And how many of them are doing at once? Do we really need that many livestreams? I wonder.
And somehow it manages to continue at home. I’m getting mighty displeased with accounts who see fit to constantly message me about the fact that they’re livestreaming. It’s not people I’m personally acquainted with it, so it’s clearly done on a mass scale. There’s one account that does it so consistently I have them restricted and their messages muted.
Livestreaming from your hotel room at the beginning or end of the day? Absolutely! Livestreaming from your otherwise empty Skyliner gondola or monorail car? Sure! From a quiet corner tucked away from the main path? Knock yourself out! But please, ask yourself these questions first: Am I going to bother anyone actually here with me? And how many livestreams have I dropped so far today?
I guess if I had to encapsulate my Disney parks social media problem in one sentence, it would be this:
It feels like the balance is shifting so that Disney parks are a place to make social media content as much as or more than they are about the experience of being there.
Again, what I want to emphasize here is that as a small-time content creator myself, I don’t want anyone to come away thinking I’m knocking the genre. Disney social media is fun! If you’re not committing indiscretions like those I list, no beef! But can we please be a little bit more discreet about the creation part, please? Else I fear we will lose sight of what makes it worth creating around in the first place.
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!