Shutdown 2013: Americans and Visitors Take to Social Media To Show Impact

Many Americans might not yet feel the impact of the government shutdown, but they can certainly see it via Facebook posts and angry tweets.

The tourism industry is one of the hardest hit sectors in the U.S. economy with the shutdown closing national parks, museums, and monuments. Unfortunately, visitors to the U.S. felt the impact immediately with plans to visit the Statue of Liberty, Yosemite Park, or Smithsonian Museums quickly ruined when they awoke on Tuesday morning.

Where else would they turn to highlight the absurdity of the situation than Instagram, where they could show the impact that an incompetent government has on one of the country’s most important, although still largely undervalued, economic drivers.

The only photos that tourists are taking at some of the country’s and capital’s greatest national monuments and museums are of signs telling them that they are not allowed in. Tourism and leisure generates $33 million a day in the D.C. region, but the city’s main draw, the National Mall, alongside many museums and the Lincoln Memorial are closed.