Why Following Viral Travel Videos Doesn't Always Lead to the Best Trip
Why do so many travellers end up disappointed after following viral travel recommendations? This article explores how social media algorithms influence the places we visit, why popularity doesn't always equal a better experience, and how asking the right questions can help you discover destinations the way locals do. Learn why understanding a city is more valuable than simply following the crowd.
KC
7/16/20262 min read
Sometime ago, a group of friends and I travelled to a city in East Asia. One of us volunteered to plan the trip, and the rest of us were more than happy to let her take the lead. It sounded like one less thing to worry about.
What we didn't realise until we arrived was that there wasn't really a travel plan.
There was a collection of saved videos.
Every restaurant, café and attraction had come from social media. If a content creator said it was worth visiting, it went onto the list. The more often a place appeared, the more convinced she became that it had to be good.
To be fair, I probably would have thought the same.
After all, if dozens of different people are recommending the same places, surely they must be worth visiting. That seems perfectly logical.
By the second day, however, something didn't feel right.
We were spending more time travelling than actually enjoying the city. We'd cross town for a dessert, then travel again for lunch because another famous place was nearby. We joined long queues with hundreds of other tourists, only to wonder afterwards what all the excitement had been about.
Looking around, I noticed something interesting. Most of the people around us weren't locals. They were travellers just like us, probably following the same videos.
That was when we realised we weren't really exploring the city.
We were simply following an algorithm.
The problem isn't that social media is bad.
I still use it myself.
The problem is that many people don't understand how recommendation algorithms work.
If you spend your time searching for apples, you'll soon see more content about apples. Search for travel videos about one famous café or restaurant, and before long your feed is filled with similar recommendations. It starts to feel as though everyone has independently discovered the same places.
In reality, they may all be drawing inspiration from the same small group of popular videos.
Some creators genuinely recommend places they enjoy. Some collaborate with businesses. Others simply create similar content because they know it performs well. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of that.
The mistake is believing that seeing the same recommendation repeatedly is proof that it is the best place to visit.
Popularity and quality are not always the same thing.
More importantly, popularity doesn't tell you whether a place is right for you.
A restaurant may be famous because of its presentation, its location, or simply because it photographs well. Another place just a few streets away may serve better food, have shorter queues, and be where local families have been eating for years.
Social media rarely explains that difference.
It tells you where to go.
It rarely tells you why.
That experience changed the way I plan every trip.
Today, I still watch travel videos because they are excellent for discovering ideas. But I no longer let an algorithm decide where I should spend my limited time.
Instead, I ask a different question.
Where do locals actually go, and why?
That one question often leads to a completely different travel experience.
It helps me understand neighbourhoods instead of just restaurants. It helps me discover local dishes instead of viral ones. More importantly, it helps me experience a destination the way the people who live there experience it.
That is also one of the reasons I started building NOTITIA.
Not to replace social media, but to complement it.
Social media is great at inspiring people to travel.
NOTITIA is about helping travellers understand a destination before they arrive, so they can spend less time chasing viral recommendations and more time discovering what makes a place truly worth visiting.
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