How Much Of Our City Are We Gatekeeping?

Posted on by

Have you ever found a restaurant that you really enjoy, a hidden nature oasis, or a place that you really enjoy that you don’t want to share with others? Welcome to gatekeeping, something that has risen to prominence in Vancouver with the rise of the anti TikTok movement.

Usually the saying is sharing is caring, but lately due to social media and tiktok, it has turned into sharing is ruining. Whenever a restaurant gets popular on TikTok, the most common reaction is that it immediately gets flooded with customers that prevent regulars from going there.

Because of this, a lot of people in Vancouver are moving from posting publicly on social media to more private ways of sharing new fines. Some examples of the way that these hidden gems are being shared is private Instagram stories, and invite-only discord servers.

While on one hand that is really good for the business itself, it is not always the best for the consumer. It is always nice to see local businesses succeed, especially in a local climate where we have seen a lot of family owned businesses go out of business because of high costs and not enough customers.

The balancing act is how are locals going to actually still be able to go to their local favorite spot. There is an argument to be made that it is not ethical to gatekeep a local struggling business, but it is possible that the sudden influx of business will only be a flash in the pan, and the sudden rush will ruin the long term vibe of the community.

With the FIFA World Cup coming this year, the emphasis on gatekeeping local spots has only increased. There’s the expectation that there’s going to be large crowds that appear within our city, that completely take over everything that is both local restaurants and chain restaurants.

If you’re wondering if you yourself are being kept from certain locations, there’s a very easy way to tell. If you’re scrolling on social media, and see a place that is tagged as Vancouver, BC, you want to ask where it is. If you get a response that is a shush emoji or no answer at all, it is more than likely that you are part of the group in the city that is being gatekept from the spot.

If you really want to know if you’re in, the best way to know is if you get invited to one of the invite only discord servers, that hosts all of the hidden gems locally and in Vancouver and the Fraser valley.