No More HoCo Hidden Gems!

Have you noticed the recent fixation on the term “hidden gems”? It seems to be having a moment, as they say. I’d like to blame TikTok for this trend, but, it probably predates TikTok. Wiktionary defines “hidden gem as follows:

Something possessing a value or beauty that is not immediately apparent, which therefore has received far less recognition than it deserves.

TikTok is awash with home-grown content producers who assure us that they know the very best (but probably hidden to us) local places and they are going to reveal them. I object. Just because you didn’t know about something and now you do doesn’t make this a great discovery which qualifies for “hidden gem” status. Besides, if it had been that well hidden, how did you find it?

“Hidden gem” seems to be the buzzword that will get people to click. It is the online equivalent of a child saying on the playground, “I bet you don’t know what I have in my pocket…” But at this point it has devolved into something more like the cliché of that guy opening his trench coat to reveal a display of questionable wristwatches.

This is not to say that all of these claims amount to nothing more than, say, obvious dreck. But it is simply not possible for the world to contain that many hidden gems!

There’s another thing. Some places are doing perfectly well as they are and perhaps they’d rather be hidden gems. Opening the door to an onslaught from the general public may push an establishment to the breaking point, thus resulting in disappointed customers. Or perhaps their loyal customer base are content to enjoy this business in its unassuming state. They may not thank you for making their favorite little hole-in-the-wall a star on social media.

We all enjoy those feel good stories about how a business didn’t truly take off until they were the subject of positive notice in a review or on social media. I’m not saying that it never helps. Mostly I’m exhausted by the term and its current over-usage.

Like other buzzwords before it - - think vibrant, open-concept, lifestyle plaza - - its popularity may be its undoing.

If a friend tells me about a cool place they recently discovered, I’m all ears. But if the conversation of social media turns to “hidden gems” my eyes will be glazing over.

What do you think?

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