This summer has depended to a greater extent than ever before on the smartphone I carry. The folder of transit maps, brochures and guidebooks I used to carry has been replaced by the phone, which delivered reviews, directions, maps and even tickets on demand. Now that we're back home, what do Charleston and East Cooper look like online?

Services like Trip Advisor, Google Maps & Yelp all seem to be sharing and aggregating the same content. Much of it is reviews provided by users.

They aren't always reliable. Frustrated competitors often attempt to sabotage the tour, attraction, hotel or restaurant across the street with negative reviews. Some operators pack websites with positive reviews which reflect either that they're really great, that they do a good job motivating their customers to post positive reviews or that they spend a lot of time logging on with different IDs and posting positive stuff about themselves and bad things about their competitors.

East Cooper's hotels, particularly those near Patriot's Point and the Bridge, seem to get mixed reviews which reflect some of this type of activity.

I believe it's all reliable enough that one can be sure the worst rated hotel in Mt. Pleasant is not as good as the best, but I wouldn't be so sure that number five is inferior to number one.

Restaurants seem to vary as well, but it looks like less effort is going into manipulating that content.

We're far past the point where this stuff is the realm of geeks and nerds. Yelp allows you to point your phone at a business with the camera on and read the reviews, no search required. You can drive down Coleman Boulevard reading the ratings as you pass restaurants, the digital ghosts of departed customers.

What may be most interesting and useful is looking at how visitors are rating Charleston's attractions, those big budget items which government and business count on to draw tourism dollars. There is no reason to believe these ratings are complete or reliable, but they're beginning to shape what gets the trade.

Charleston's top four rated attractions on trip advisor on Aug. 23 were a an eco boat tour, high speed boat tour, walking tour and offshore fishing charter. The schooner Pride came in fifth. Patriot's Point came in sixth. In the Mount Pleasant listings, which inconsistently list either four attractions or 18 in that community,

Patriot's Point is not listed on the four-attraction list and is listed number one on the more complete list. Waterfront Park is missing from the longer list, but present with no reviews on the shorter one.

It's difficult to believe Patriot's Point's being listed after a walking tour in the Charleston listings actually reflects the visitor experience in our area, but it must be impacting the perception of Patriot's Point. It doesn't matter if it is "fair." If you think it isn't, log on and post a review about how great you think a visit to the Yorktown is with some detail.

The biggest winner by far is the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, or more accurately the Wonders Way pedestrian and walking lane attached to it.

It is currently Charleston's eighth highest rated of 123 Charleston area attractions, and third in Mount Pleasant's. It helps that use of the path is free.

Visitors say,"The views from the main observation deck are absolutely breathtaking, and the walkway they designed for walkers (and runners!) is extremely well-done. Why they don't do this with more bridges is a mystery to me."

Wonder's Way is obviously becoming a real tourist attraction. It is a safe bet nobody out there is padding an elevated sidewalk's reviews. Nobody earns a profit from the walkway or is on its payroll.

Hard to explain are the low ratings received by major, well established and often expensively maintained attractions. Magnolia Plantation is listed at number 22 for Charleston. Several carriage tour companies fall in the mid 20s. Middleton Place is number 34. The Morris Island Lighthouse is ranked 35 based on a mix of reviews by people who took a boat tour and people who just saw it from across the water.

Magnolia Cemetery is at 41. The Charleston Museum is 56. The South Carolina Aquarium is at 63, listed below the Unitarian Church.

One consistent element in high ratings seems to be visitors having a personal connection with someone they meet.

These ratings and even the number of attractions seem to vary each time they're checked, but overall it's very different from what most locals would assume it is. If you are connected with our important tourism industry, some attention and some typing may be in order.

(William Hamilton (www.wjhamilton.com) is an attorney who lives in I'OnVillage.)