VSCO: A Millennial’s

Virtual Gallery

Julie Press | Communication Research Methods

What’s VSCO?

Visual Supply Company or VSCO-rhymes with disco

Start to finish photography software-Similar to Instagram but more of an online art gallery

Both online and mobile platforms-Free mobile application accessible to anyone -Can export images to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter

What’s a Destination Marketing

Organization?

Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are “organizations charged with representing a specific destination and helping the long-term development of communities through a travel and tourism strategy.”

“For visitors, DMOs are like a key to the city. As an unbiased resource, they can serve as a broker or an official point of contact for convention, business and leisure travelers.”

Retrived from: destinationmarketing.org

Millennials: Connected Travelers

VSCO Users Export

#travel#vscocam

Roadmap: Destination VSCO

First- examine travel photography and social media studies

Second- network and content analysis

Third- data collection

Previous Studies

Travel Photography Shane Tilton, Crandall & Snavely

User Generated Content and Millennial TravelersStankov Jovanovic & Dragicevic, Kim & Kim

Social Media Effects on Tourism IndustryPopesku

Methods

Network AnalysisAlgorithm that fetches images in VSCO Cam

hashtag library via Instagram

Content AnalysisDefining image characteristics based on

composition, use of filter, subject, and hashtag pairing

Research Questions

What scenery or landscape motivates VSCO Cam users to photograph and post during their travels?

What are the characteristics of photographs paired with the hashtag #vsco and a destination name?

Data

Preliminary Findings

Sample Population: Top posts on Aug. 10 under #vscocam in Instagram. Note: This is peak tourist season for most countries

5 out of 9 photos were destinations paired with #vscocam and a travel related tag.2 out of 5 destination images were of cityscapes and

2 out of the 5 were taken in the United States.

One image contained a human subject.Images were well composed and filters made images feel more authentic.

Conclusion

Limitations-Network Analysis may be difficult to conduct due to resources

Future Research-Ethnography of VSCO Cam travelers

-Has VSCO redefined photography mobile photography?

- Comparative analysis of a destination marketing org Instagram versus vscocam hashtag library of location

Final Thoughts

Because millennials grew up in the digital era where technology has become so involved, we

incorporate it into our experienced to document our story through a mediated context.

We must understand how we interact with these applications in order to create better user

experiences.