Does Online Sharing Diminish Real Life Experiences?

by Mike Barish on


When we travel, we love to share our experiences. Whether via blog posts, tweets, Facebook status updates or photo sharing apps, broadcasting experiences – particularly those involving travel and food – has become as much a part of life as, well, life itself. But is that a good thing? Does constantly live-sharing experiences diminish the experiences themselves? Watching this video for the new Evernote Food app left me feeling a bit overwhelmed by social media.

Don’t get me wrong; I share photos of my meals and tweet about my travels as much, if not more, than the next guy. I’m guilty of this. But something about this video – and the app itself – has me feeling that we might have reached a tipping point in social media.

We already run the risk of seeing our trips through viewfinders rather than our own eyes. Now we seem to be sacrificing conversations and interaction with the people around us for popularity online. When meals are placed on tables across the world, servers are ignored, dining companions are told not to touch anything and smartphones emerge to document the food from all angles. Only after the appropriate number of glamour shots have been posted to Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and now, apparently, Food, can people actually, you know, eat.

At some point, we all need to remember that the urge to document and share our experiences is born from the fact that the experiences are enjoyable to us first. In order for our online social networks to live vicariously through us, we first need to do some living. If you’re only doing activities for the stories or clout (or worse, Klout), are you really doing anything at all?

So, maybe we should put down the smartphones and cameras for a bit, take a break from sharing everything online and enjoy the company of the people sitting right next to us. Savor ours meal for our own sake. If we don’t, it’s a slippery slope to this becoming a reality:

Let’s create memories that live more vividly and richly in our minds than they ever could in a status update. Life was in HD long before our cameras were.

Photo by Flickr user adactio.

Tracing Twitter to 16th century Rome

by Melanie Renzulli on



The ugliest statue in Rome is not easy to find. Tucked away in an alley off of Piazza Navona, blending in to the unremarkable stone façades of the buildings behind him, Pasquino, a human-shaped stump of marble resting on a pedestal pasted with notes and cartoons, hides in plain sight from most tourists who saunter past on their way to this district’s many renowned restaurants, bars, and cafes. But what is hardly a landmark for travelers is for Italians a symbol of free speech.

I have been thinking about Pasquino a lot lately as I read stories about social media and pseudonyms, the so-called “nym wars.” Social media websites, such as Facebook and Google Plus, have faced criticism for banning users from using pseudonyms on their sites. On the other hand, Twitter has all but embraced anonymity and fake accounts on its service, allowing users to pose as fake politicians, CEOs, and other public figures as a form of satire or a way to air grievances without reprisal. In light of the recent irreverent online reactions to the Italian debt crisis and the resignation of long-time Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, some Italian bloggers have referred to Internet critics as “Pasquino digitali,” a term that can be traced back to that ugly statue and its role as a tool of protest during the 16th century.Pasquino, the most famous of Rome’s “talking statues,” has been sounding off against the church, political leaders, and local affairs, for more than 500 years. Uncovered in 1501 in the Parione district, the 3rd-century B.C statue began to speak in the early 16th century shortly after a cardinal affixed some epigrams to its torso and pedestal on the occasion of St. Mark’s Day (April 25). Not long after, Roman citizens, especially those displeased with the corruption of the papacy, took a cue from the cardinal and began secretly to leave poems and verses on Pasquino decrying the actions – or inaction – of those in power. These verses, written in Latin or Roman dialect, came to be known as pasquinate, or pasquinades in English, after the ancient statue (whose own name is of unknown origin). One of the best known pasquinades ever left on Pasquino was directed at Pope Urban VIII Barberini, who is known for ordering the Pantheon stripped of its bronze tiles, which were subsequently melted down and used by the artist Bernini to create a grand baldaquin for St. Peter’s Basilica:

Quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini
(What the Barbarians didn’t do, the Barberini did.)

Pasquino’s success as a bulletin board for anonymous witticisms prompted more statues in Rome to begin talking. At least five other statues in Rome are known to have engaged in “conversations” with Pasquino. The most famous of these copycat statues was Marforio, who regularly posed questions to Pasquino about current events. When the statues’ conversations proved too satirical for the church, Pope Innocent X had Marforio moved to the Capitoline Museums, where he rests silently today.

Almost 500 years have passed since Romans first posted their handwritten protests on Pasquino. Even in the age of digital media, Pasquino’s base is still covered in anti-government poems, snarky asides about enemies, and complaints about community affairs. Many of these are now collected on the blog pasquinate.it and shared @pasquinateblog. But travelers who are also passionate about Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus would do well to pay Pasquino a visit on their next visit to Rome to see social media in its earliest form.

Photo by zak mc/Flickr

Knocked up abroad: international travel with a baby

by Meg Nesterov on

This is the third in Knocked Up Abroad‘s guide to traveling with a baby. Before you go, see tips on planning travel and flying with a baby.

So you’ve decided to travel abroad with your new family addition, well done! You’ve chosen the best baby-friendly destination, packed light, and even survived the long flight. Now that you’re on the ground, possibly recovering from jet lag and hopefully learning new foreign phrases for “what a cute baby!,” how can you ensure you and your baby have a fun and relaxing vacation? After five countries in under four months (several of them without other adults), I can say it mostly comes down to attitude and planning. Here are my tips for international travel with a baby:

-Don’t expect the world to cater to you. The most important thing to bring on a trip with a baby is the right attitude. If you travel expecting every restaurant to have a baby-changing table in the bathroom (which they probably won’t, especially in Europe) or that public transportation should be stroller-accessible, you can be sorely disappointed. Keep your expectations low and get creative. I’ve changed my baby on many toilet seat lids, on top of and even in sinks (stuff your diaper bag in to make a flat base), and occasionally in her stroller. Allow yourself to be surprised by people, too. In New York, I was prepared to carry my stroller up and down stairs at some subway stops by myself, yet I was helped by strangers every time. A restaurant owner in Italy set up a makeshift table on top of their deep freezer when she saw me struggling to change the baby on a sink top. Look at inconveniences as part of the adventure rather than a sign you should have stayed home.-Plan your logistics carefully, and then let the rest of your plans go. As noted previously, it pays to do your research before departing. Each day of your trip, plan out where you want to go, how to get there, and what you might need but realize that you might not do any of it. In Malta, there was a wine festival in the next town with cheap tastings and free food, but a cranky baby meant we stayed within walking distance of our apartment (good thing too, or we could have missed a great parade). In Slovenia, we had to make a detour back to our hotel after a diaper incident meant I had to strip my baby down to just her winter coat and diaper. Babies can be unpredictable, so you may need stop at a cafe to feed a baby, take an extra walk around the block before bed to soothe crying, or go back to your room early when the weather turns bad. While combination transit or tourist passes might be a good value, they won’t be if your baby won’t go in a museum without screaming or prefers an open-air stroll to a bus ride.

-Find favorite rest stops. When you need to take a time out from exploring to feed or change your baby, there can be some comfortable places to stop that exist in nearly every destination. Museums and large hotels tend to have nice bathrooms, sometimes with changing facilities. Large baby stores may have a private nursing room or a place to change the baby, plus plenty of gear and gadgets if you need them. Pharmacists generally speak English and carry nearly all of the necessities. At night, however, you may have to be creative again. I tend to visit the same cafes in Istanbul again and again not just for the food but for the bathrooms, the waiters who rush to coddle and play with the baby, and comfy seating while I feed her.

-Breast is best when traveling. While it’s a personal choice how you feed your baby, if you can and want to breastfeed, there is evidence both anecdotal and scientific to support that breastfeeding is preferred while traveling. According to the CDC, it provides needed immunities, nutrition, and hydration for the baby. Even if the mother gets traveler diarrhea, breastfeeding can help to protect from contaminants and rehydrate the baby. It’s also convenient: perfectly packaged, the right temperature, and nothing goes to waste! Nursing mothers may still want to carry a manual pump and store a spare bottle or two. So far, I’ve found every country to be friendly to breastfeeding mothers, though I carry and use a scarf for modesty and spit-up. La Leche League has resources in many countries if you need help, check their map for local groups.

-Document your baby’s trip. It goes without saying that you’ll take plenty of photos and perhaps journal, blog, or tweet your trip, but it helps to document the more mundane activities too. When my baby was born, I got a set of cute notebooks to help me keep track of her feeding and sleeping schedule and diaper changes. I maintained it faithfully only for the first month or two, but now try to revive the records when I travel. Especially if you’re dealing with a big time change, it can help you to figure out how the baby is adjusting by keeping track of how often they eat and how long they sleep at a stretch. It’s also useful when deciding how many diapers to buy so you don’t get caught short or hauling around a mega pack. In the event that your baby gets sick (fingers crossed that they don’t!) during or after your trip, you can tell the doctor if anything is out of the ordinary and help pinpoint causes. You don’t need a fancy notebook either, you can jot down notes on the back of a museum ticket or restaurant receipt while you’re making a pit stop.

-Pack “in between” clothes. If your baby has clothes that he is about to grow out of, bring them along on your travels. If they have only one or two more wears left in them, you won’t mind if they get left behind in a hotel room, will have less to launder or carry, and you’ll probably take many photos of your baby so you can remember a favorite outfit before it gets too small. Keep a spare in your diaper or day bag in case of a changing emergency.

-Know your conversions. Do you know your baby’s weight in kilograms? Does 39 degrees sound hot or cold to you? If you’re American, you probably suffer from the disadvantage of not knowing the metric system used by the rest of the world. You’ll need to know measurements when buying diapers as size numbers might change between countries. My baby was born weighing 3.4 kilos (about 7.5 pounds) and wears a size 2 Pampers in every European country, but wore a size 1 in the same brand of American diapers. In case of a fever while traveling, you should know what temperatures require a visit to a local doctor or just a dose of Children’s Tylenol (which is called Calpol in many other countries, by the way). This info is all online, of course, but it can’t hurt to jot it down in your wallet just in case.

-Carry lots of bags. One of the more useful items to pack and/or collect on your trip is bags disposable, resealable, and reuseable. Bottles can be kept clean and stained clothing can be kept separate from the rest of your stuff in a Ziploc bag (bring a stash from home, they are harder to find in some countries). Supermarket store plastic bags are useful for laundry and diapers until you can deal with them properly. You’ll be going to the store more than usual for baby supplies, and many countries don’t supply bags for free, so bring your own reuseable tote for groceries, carrying gear from your luggage on an outing, or bringing souvenirs home. Bags are useful even without a baby but can also make a huge difference if you have a wet baby miles from your hotel.

What are your secret weapons for traveling with a baby? Leave us your success stories (and mistakes) in the comments.

A roundup of travel chats hosted on Twitter

by Melanie Renzulli on

Hashtags. If you are on Twitter, then you have seen plenty of tweets accompanied by hashtags. A hashtag provides context to a tweet, enables tweeters to rally around a cause, as well as allows others to find tweets more easily in a search.

As Twitter has evolved, hashtags have become integral to following events and conversations. The utility of hashtags has also made it possible for groups of people with common interests to come together for daily, weekly, or monthly discussions. This has certainly been the case for travel enthusiasts, many of whom have created several hashtag talks on Twitter. If you’d like to get in on the many travel conversations on Twitter, read on as we break down the best ways to get talking about travel 140 characters at a time.#TNI
The pioneer of travel talks on Twitter, #TNI, which stands for Travelers’ Night In, was created by the ladies of ZipSetGo.com (@zipsetgo). Each Thursday at 3:30 EST, #TNI begins with a question centered around the week’s theme and continues with 10 questions tweeted out from the #TNI hosts approximately every 10 minutes. Topics have ranged from geographical subjects, such as California, to travel genres, such as adventure travel. #TNI discussions are quick, usually funny, and often enlightening for the travel information that they impart. When it’s all over, one of the members of ZipSetGo writes up a summary of that week’s discussion for the website, highlighting the best and/or wittiest answers.

Because #TNI has become such a phenomenon among travel folks on Twitter, tourism boards and PR firms often work with ZipSetGo to set a theme and provide prizes. #TNI has also become a hashtag that travel tweeters use to share their content or ask a question.

#TTOT
“Travel Talk on Twitter” or #TTOT was started by Melvin Boecher of Traveldudes.org as a way to “have a travel event on Twitter…that [doesn’t] get dominated by sponsors who pay for it.” #TTOT works similarly to #TNI, however. The talk takes place on Tuesdays at both 9:30am and 9:30pm GMT and is based around a theme chosen from questions posted on the TTOT Facebook page. Also like #TNI, #TTOT has become a catchall hashtag for travel-related tweets and questions.

#MexMonday
I’ve been following travel topics on Twitter since I joined in March 2009 and #MexMonday is the only country-specific hashtag with its own day that has any sort of staying power. Twitter user @traveldesigned began #MexMonday in September 2009 in order to promote tourism to Mexico in light of the bad press stemming from drug crime and the H1N1 virus in that country. Each Monday, Mexico aficionados tweet out content, photos, and questions using the #MexMonday hashtag.

#TravelTuesday
Tuesdays became all about travel the day that tweeter @whereivebeen began using the #TravelTuesday hashtag. Rather than being a travel discussion, #TravelTuesday, often shortened to #TT, has become a way for persons on Twitter to give a shout-out to those who provide useful travel tweets. In other words, #TravelTuesday is very much like Twitter’s most famous hashtag #FollowFriday.

#BeachThursday
If beaches are your thing, then Thursday is the time to drop in on Twitter to follow the #BeachThursday hashtag. Twitterer @isabellestravel, the blogger behind Isabelles Travel Guide, started #BeachThursday while daydreaming about the beach on a dreary Thursday afternoon. Now anyone who wants to learn more about beaches or share seaside photos can find like-minded travelers every Thursday on Twitter.

#FriFotos
It’s Friday. You’re ready for the weekend and you need something to distract you as you count down the hours. Enter #FriFotos. Organized by Jonathan Epstein of @epsteintravels, #FriFotos is the chance for travelers to show off their best travel photos based on themes, which have ranged from animals to world capitals to stone. #FriFotos is open to everyone from amateur photogs sharing blog posts or Flickr photos to professional photographers tweeting out links to portfolio shots. Always fans of big, bold photos, our friends at the Huffington Post provide information on each week’s #FriFotos theme and you can also follow @epsteintravels, @kirstenalana, or @hotelprguy on Twitter for the #FriFotos scoop.

In addition to these well-known Twitter talks, you may also be interested in following #WineWednesday which often pairs travel with terroir, and #NUTS (“Not-so Usual Therapy Session”), in which, according to host @midliferoadtrip, the “primary focus is food, travel and adventure.”

Of course, new travel talks are popping up all the time on Twitter, so stay tuned to @gadling for the latest. Better yet, follow all of Gadling’s bloggers by subscribing to the Gadling Bloggers list. Happy tweeting!

Photo / Flickr user danmoyle

Hurricane rebooking madness: US Airways wins, American loses

by Grant Martin on

Stella Service just captured an interesting slice of airline customer service data during hurricane Irene. The weather catastrophe, which stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers throughout the weekend, left many trying to rebook their tickets at the airport and on the phone — only to be met with hours of on-hold-music and frustration.

Not all airlines handled the disaster equally, however. Based on a series of eight test phone calls and a dozen tweets to each airline, Stella determined the responsiveness of each airline and ranked them accordingly. What they found was that on average, hold times with US Airways were an average of only 2 minutes and 38 seconds long, while to reach an agent at American it took over an hour and a half.

Similarly, Delta was the best at responding to Twitter issues, responding to 100% of Tweets in an average of 14 minutes, while neither American nor United nor AirTran even bothered to respond.

These data paint a rough portrait of the state of customer service at the airlines during a weather emergency, though they should be taken with a grain of salt. In their defense, American and Delta have more flights departing from New York City, so it follows that more passengers were probably displaced on those carriers. Southwest and US Airways, conversely, have their major hubs inland.

Attention to Twitter, however, is harder to defend. Any airline can devote manpower to a Twitter feed, and letting customers stew in that medium without resolution is just plain irresponsible. As a silver lining to this study, hopefully these data provide incentive for the airlines to put more thought into their social media strategies.

You can read the full dataset over at the Stella Blog.Update 1: United Airlines issued the following statement following the release of this data:

STELLAService sent 12 Tweets to our inactive @Continental handle, and we replied to six of those from our active @United account. A short time later, we saw the same 12 questions submitted to the @United handle. STELLAService’s assertion is that we didn’t reply to any of the questions they submitted to @United, which is only true because we had already answered the identical questions they submitted to @continental.

Had we not answered the questions they tweeted to our inactive @continental handle, we would have replied to the questions they tweeted to our active @United handle, just as we replied to more than 200 other customer inquiries on Twitter.

Update 2: American Airlines issued the following statement following the release of this data:

We disagree with the findings of the study. We believe it is highly inaccurate and based on an insufficient sample size – eight calls and 12 tweets on average – that that skewed results and does not represent reality. We handled more than 100,000 calls on Friday, and during the period in question our customers waited an average of 21 minutes – far less than alleged and in line with most of our peers. Our response time for AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum and Gold customers averaged from 30 seconds to less than three minutes per call. Of the 78 tweets directed to us from Thursday through Sunday, a significant number of which did not request action, we responded to 46 tweets either publicly or privately to assist customers, and we also sent four proactive tweets with travel information related to the storm. Each day, and especially in times of service disruption, we make responding to and informing our customers – whether through social or other traditional direct channels – our highest priority.