This study explores how the phenomenon of overtourism is represented, constructed, and at times obscured within digital narratives on TikTok, focusing specifically on the case of the city of Naples. Through a qualitative content analysis conducted on 300 videos, the research explores the perceptual and behavioral dimensions of overtourism, highlighting the differentiated roles of the main stakeholders involved: influencers, residents, tourists, media actors and local businesses. The work is situated in the broader debate on the transformation of tourism in the algorithmic era, interrogating the emerging logics of visibility and power generated by digital platforms. The results highlight how TikTok contributes to the construction of a predominantly positive and spectacularized narrative of the city, in which issues related to overtourism are marginalized. Influencers, the main producers of content, convey an aestheticized and desirable image of Naples, while critical content is predominantly produced by traditional media, often with less visibility. The platform itself acts as an active player in the selection and promotion of content, favoring those capable of generating more interaction and penalizing more complex or critical narratives. The analysis highlights a discrepancy between the factual dimension of overtourism-well documented by observable data and phenomena on the ground-and the perceptual one, influenced by viral content and algorithmic feedback loops. Digital representations thus tend to normalize overtourism, turning it into an element of urban success. Finally, it highlights the urgency of developing more conscious and participatory digital strategies, capable of including marginal voices and alternative narratives, for more equitable and sustainable tourism governance.
Punziano et al. (Tue,) studied this question.