Do you create, utilize, and/or share Google Docs files as a way to research your travels? This article in Thrillist discusses travel recommendations in privately created, and privately shared, Google Docs files.
Because of my job as a librarian, I find it fascinating to learn how people share information. To me this trend feels almost like a yearning for the "good old days" (did they really exist?) of the world wide web before it became monetized, either by corporations or influencers seeking to be paid by those corporations. On a broader level, I wonder if social media is popular precisely because it opposes historic "trusted" sources of authority such as newspapers--and travel guides.
Can a source be both "authoritative" and "authentic"? I would like to think Rick Steves and his guidebooks, as well as Pauline Frommer and her books, fit both criteria.
A few points that I found interesting about the Thrillist article:
"The old ways of finding travel recommendations, even those from just a few years ago, are now approached with a heavy dose of skepticism..it’s highly unlikely the curator had a specific reader in mind. Instead, they’re often fighting for maximum clicks or virality, and don't account for personal taste."
"In many ways, that’s the real benefit of these docs: the humanity they bring to an industry that feels like it’s become rote and performative. 'And then also when you come back, you have something to talk about with that person [you created the Google Doc]...'”