Brive, la gaillarde, a small pearl nestled in Corrèze; Saint-Malo, whose simple name resonates like an invitation to bask on long stretches of sand; Calvi, its citadel, which looks out over the marvelous Corsican coast … Each more photogenic than the other, these medium-sized towns in France would not come close to… Thionville. At least on Instagram, this social network that acts as a justice of the peace for the many amateur photographers who have swarmed since the rise of the smartphone.
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The Moselle city has just won the 5e place in the ranking published by the Nouvelles Marges agency, in the category of the most popular French medium-sized towns on the application. To edit this list, this agency specializing in attractiveness and territorial marketing has crossed several data. Obviously, at the heart of this algorithm that we imagine to be elaborate, a simple accounting tool: the number of photos posted with the hashtag of the city …
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#JaimeThionville
In this little game, Thionville was able to rely on the colossal number of subscribers which fill the account administered by the municipality. Or a reservoir of 8,000 lovers of the capital of Portes de France. In love with this belfry planted at the entrance to the city, in love with these alleys which irrigate the heart of the historic center and, above all, admiring the work of Stéphane Thevenin.
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The City’s photographer counts for a lot in this honorary distinction. His photographs magnify Thionville, offer him a digital showcase while uniting a community oscillating between nostalgia and barely returned chauvinism. It is certainly also this strong feeling of belonging which places Thionville in the Top 5. Otherwise, how to explain that Montreuil-sur-Mer arrogates to itself the head of the classification? This small town in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, populated by 2014 inhabitants, owes its victory to the mobilization of its own people, “with twice as many publications per inhabitant on affective hashtags than any other city in France”, certifies the agency in its conclusions. The same goes for Saint-Quentin (2e ), in Aisne, with a unifying hashtag: #JaimeSaintQuentin. “Picard’s attachment is notable,” sums up the press release. The Thionville attachment too, obviously (#JaimeThionville).
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