Japan’s Tourism Troubles Are Being Fuelled By Social Media Assholes

In none of those examples were the size of the crowds of tourists the problem, or even their general behaviour. The vast majority of people were fine! The problem was the tourists with their phones out shooting themselves for a video or taking endless selfies, blocking crowds, barring entrance to stores and just generally getting in everyone’s way in the most annoying way possible. I know simply blaming TikTok and Instagram and YouTube Shorts for so many flashpoints is an overly-simplistic explanation, but also, from everything I saw in my two weeks (where other kinds of rude or offensive behaviour outside the occasional jerk were rare), it was kinda true.

I’ve said it before. Social media is, in and of itself, a menace.