Good places on Instagram: a tourism related visual and meta-data analysis

Purpose – Good places are welcoming spaces where people can relax and enjoy themselves. The purpose of this study is to expand Ray Oldenburg’s ‘‘good places’’ theory in the realm of tourism, recognising its potential in exploring how tourism activities engage with and interpret third places. Oldenburg argued that society thrives on three essential spaces: home and work as first and second places, while third places are social environments where people gather informally. Surprisingly, the role of tourists in shaping third places has not received much academic attention. The purpose of this study is to explore the tourism-related third places on Instagram. Design/methodology/approach – The visual analysis draws upon Oldenburg’s third places theory and explores an Instagram reel on third places that solicited 2,436 comments by tourists. To further explore visuals on ‘‘great, good places’’, text mining and co-occurrence analysis were used on 13,746 Instagram posts and hashtags of #goodplace and #greatplace. This meta-data analysis provides insights into the Instagram travel content labelled as good places. Findings – The results of the study indicate that tourists associate the concept of ‘‘great good places’’ on Instagram with the walkability of cities, the spontaneous encounters with people, the availability of outdoor facilities, parks and squares and the opportunities for social interaction they offer daily. These places are perceived as offering free experiences. The visual analysis reveals that travel-related good places can be at the centre of social media travel narratives.