Nearly half of American travelers featured in a new study have "pushed beyond what felt safe" on a trip, and more than a third of Gen Z travelers have taken a risk to capture a picture or video, according to the findings of the study shared exclusively with Newsweek.
Asked why younger travelers may be more likely to take risks for social media content, Jordan Bridger, a behavioral scientist and social psychologist, told Newsweek that "a phone camera turns every viewpoint into a peer audience." He explained that "the reputational payoff" of a dramatic shot is larger for younger travelers, and "platforms reward the dramatic frame, so they work as a scoreboard more than a cause."
Travel expert and content creator Gabby Beckford runs the Young Travelers Network Facebook group, a community of more than 10,000 Gen Z travelers. She told Newsweek that "a risky photo or video can pay a young traveler back in attention, status, and opportunities in a way it rarely does for an older traveler," with Gen Z being online more than any other generation.
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The new research follows several incidents in recent months involving tourists who have either died or been injured while visiting scenic spots. Back in August, a 20-year-old died while posing for photos in a restricted area at the top of the 177-foot waterfall at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon. In September, a tourist who was said to be around 30 years old, according to local authorities, reportedly fell from a viewing spot at a tourist site in Dubrovnik, Croatia, sustaining injuries to her head and arms.
The research was undertaken by Climbing Kilimanjaro, a Tanzanian specialist operator of guided Mount Kilimanjaro climbs, Tanzania safaris, and Zanzibar beach stays. The study surveyed 1,013 U.S. adults on how social media shapes the trips they dream about, plan, and take. It also analyzed keywords and hashtags applied to nearly 24,000 top climbing posts across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. The average age of respondents in the study was 40, with millennials making up the largest share of respondents (50 percent), followed by Gen X (24 percent), Gen Z (21 percent), and baby boomers (5 percent).
Unpacking the figure on 28 percent taking a physical risk to get a better photo or video, Bridger told Newsweek: "I'd read it less as social media making travelers reckless and more as an audience effect that long predates it."
He explained: "In a well-known lab study, having peers watching increased risky choices in teenagers and young adults but not in adults," referring to a study published in Developmental Psychology in July 2005. The study found that "adolescents are more inclined toward risky behavior and risky decision making than are adults and that peer influence plays an important role in explaining risky behavior during adolescence."
Beckford of the Young Travelers Network Facebook group is a zillennial, born during the later years of the millennial generation and the early years of Gen Z. She agrees with Bridger, telling Newsweek: "I don't think social media is the cause of this, as much as an amplifier of an existing truth. Younger people tend to take more risks in every area of life, including money and their careers. Travel is no exception but social media drastically increases the payoff for those risks."
Bridger said the fact that 71 percent were inspired to take a physically demanding trip, while 17 percent actually booked one, was especially telling. He explained: "Most people only imagine the climb, and the few who take the risk are the ones whose audience is already in the room. So, the lever for destinations is design rather than warnings: build the photo spot behind a railing instead of posting a sign."
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Gen Z Isn't Necessarily 'More Reckless'
Paromita Pain, an associate professor of global media studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, told Newsweek that while the Climbing Kilimanjaro survey identifies an age difference in reported risk-taking, "it does not establish what caused it," noting that differences in platform use, travel experience, and the activities respondents undertake may also matter.
Shailendra Pratap Jain is a professor of marketing and international business at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business. His research focuses on consumer psychology, branding, persuasion, social media, and influencer marketing. Jain told Newsweek: "I would be careful about explaining this simply by saying that Gen Z is more reckless," noting that the survey "doesn't establish that."
He points instead to the fact that younger consumers have grown up in an environment in which experiencing and documenting are increasingly intertwined.
He explained: "For someone deeply embedded in social media, the photograph or video isn't necessarily an afterthought to the experience. It can become part of the experience itself. The climb is simultaneously something I am doing, something I am documenting, and something through which I am communicating who I am. That is particularly powerful with demanding travel."
So, climbing Kilimanjaro, trekking in Patagonia, or completing a difficult hike "can signal courage, fitness, adventurousness, perseverance, and even identity," he says, noting that the content doesn't merely say, "I was here," but can also say "this is who I am," and influencers can amplify this process.
Vummy Kihaule, the founder of Tanzania Safaris, who is a travel expert specializing in East Africa, including guided Kilimanjaro climbs, agreed, telling Newsweek: "This is a generation that has grown up not only with social media but also with creating content for it. For many young travelers, documenting their travels and even sharing their experiences in real time is a key part of the trip itself."
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The Bigger Picture Beyond the Numbers
Jain is a co-author of a large-scale meta-analysis of social media influencer effectiveness published in May 2025 in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, which found that social media influencers can significantly affect both consumer engagement and purchase intentions.
"Our research shows that influencers are especially effective at generating engagement, in part because of their credibility and attractiveness," the professor said. "In travel, influencers don't simply recommend destinations. They can implicitly provide scripts for how those destinations should be experienced—where to stand, what to photograph, which activities matter, and what an ‘extraordinary’ trip is supposed to look like."
The larger story behind these numbers is the fact that "social media is no longer simply a communication channel through which travelers tell others where they have been," Jain told Newsweek. "Increasingly, it is helping define what an experience is worth having—and what travelers believe they need to do to make that experience worth sharing."
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Repeated Exposure to Risky Behavior and Other Concerns
Jain warned that the travel industry should be "quite concerned" about the findings of the latest study, pointing to 37 percent of Gen Z taking a physical risk to get a better photo or video as evidence of something larger than simple risk-taking. He explained: "Social media has changed the travel experience from something we primarily consume into something we also produce for an audience…once travelers begin viewing an experience partly through the imagined eyes of their audience, decisions that would otherwise seem irrational can become psychologically understandable."
Jain also warned of a "potentially troubling feedback loop," where "spectacular content" gets posted, and algorithms disproportionately reward engaging and unusual content. Other travelers will view the content, and "an exceptional behavior can gradually begin to look normal," he said.
Pain agreed, noting that "repeated exposure can also make risky behavior seem ordinary, especially when viewers see the striking image without seeing the consequences."
Pain warned that "the travel industry should take these findings seriously," noting that when people take risks for a photograph, the consequences can extend to guides, rescue workers, and other travelers.
Kihaule echoed the sentiment, adding that one person’s irresponsible behavior can even lead to "an expensive and time-consuming emergency evacuation that affects everyone on a trek." Kihaule says the travel industry has to acknowledge that managing this type of behavior is now a part of their work, noting that "travelers need their pre-departure talks to include clear messages on how to handle social media before they depart for their trip."
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Beckford also noted that the travel industry should be "very concerned about social media potentially encouraging unsafe behavior," and be proactive in addressing it. She thinks tour operators should automatically assume every guest is a first-time traveler who doesn’t know the risks that come with their trip, while clear marketing, clear signage at locations, and waivers that spell out exactly what travelers are signing up for, a given for every destination.
"When a location becomes too dangerous, travel brands and destinations should be willing to take a public stance, state clearly what is no longer allowed, and work with local government to change policy. Travel operators should also be aware of AI-generated images, which already show destinations and activities that look different from reality or that aren’t permitted at all," Beckford added.
Pain agreed that all promotional content from travel companies should include advice of preparing for difficult conditions, and "the judgment involved in deciding when to stop," noting that "turning back needs to be an acceptable part of the story."
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Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Sirena Bergman and Tony Phillips.