Woman Blames Instagram For $8,000 Holiday Debt

If you use social media then chances are you've been flicking through your feed and come across photos of friends or strangers enjoying lavish-looking holidays in far flung places.

Chances are you'll wish you were with them or at least where they were, soaking up the sun, ploughing through powder on the mountains or trekking through the jungle.

But there's a pretty low chance that you'd go out of your way and make yourself financially stuffed to just mirror what you're seeing on your feed.

PA

Well, sadly for one Aussie woman, the fear of missing out was too much and she's ended up in financial ruin.

Fiona Melbul has always had a bit of FOMO when it comes to social media and admits that she'd rather be in debt than miss out on all the fun.

However, when she found out her brother was going to Disneyland, the 27-year-old said he couldn't go without her.

So she decided to take out a loan to afford the airfare and then used her credit card for the whole trip, racking up around $8,000 and knowing full well that she couldn't afford the sudden debt.

Channel 9

"You take those 10, 20 shots to take the perfect one, post on social media, then you kinda wait for your friends to see it. Then you get all those comments of them being jealous. Makes me feel good that I can do that," she told A Current Affair.

Fiona says she's had to move back in with her parents in order to pay off the debt slowly, but surely.

But this highlights the growing issue of people being sucked into financial difficulty because of social media saturation.

Psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones also told the Channel 9 programme: "It is just like fast food, not very substantial and nutritious, you've gotta keep going back for another hit.

Channel 9

"We're connected all the time and we're constantly being reminded of what other people are doing, and that status-envy and downward comparing leads us to strive for this other life that's not our own.

"It's that instant gratification - you do get a little rush when you spend - your mind starts to release the dopamine and seratonin that gets us all excited," Dr Bagley-Jones says.

"But it's short lived, and the long-term consequences are quite devastating for some."

So next time you're weighing up whether it's worth it for the 'gram, just remember you could be in some serious debt for just a couple of photos.

Topics: Interesting, Social Media, Community

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie