The Impact of Social Media on Destination Selection: How Xiaohongshu Reshapes the Tourist Experience in Wuhan

This study examines the transformative role of social media in tourist destination selection. Using a mixed-methods approach combining content analysis of 1,872 Xiaohongshu posts, fieldwork, and semistructured interviews, it investigates how social media mechanisms influence tourist decision making. Theoretically, the study draws on the concepts of the “digital gaze” and “visual hegemony” to account for a shift from traditional cultural appreciation to the pursuit of aesthetic symbols. The findings reveal a clear divergence between officially promoted sites and social media hotspots. Visually driven, experiential content on Xiaohongshu tends to overshadow traditional historical narratives. The results suggest that the platform functions as a “decision-making engine,” narrowing tourists’ experiential agency through algorithmic curation. This study contributes to tourism research by proposing a framework for understanding tourism dynamics in emerging urban contexts and offers strategic insights for policymakers seeking to align official narratives with tourist practices.