Tweet down under: Microblogging comes to Australia

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Once upon a time, Twitter‘s growth prospects outside the United States appeared to be limited, because of differences in text message pricing. Well, it looks like that won’t be a problem any more. On your next trip to Australia, you’ll be able to tweet like mad thanks to the social media platform’s new partnership with Telstra (@Telstra), the wireless carrier down there.

To get you started, here are five Australian users that Twitter suggests you follow. Of course, you should keep an eye on @Gadling, too.

@australian (News from The Australian newspaper)
@delta_goodrem (Musician)
@kyleandjackieo (Australia’s #1 radio show)
@DanniiMinogue (Team Minogue judge for The X Factor)
@KevinRuddPM (Prime Minister)

There’s no question that Twitter can be incredibly helpful while you’re on the road. Be sure to hit up the locals for bar tips and under-the-radar attractions. This week, Twitter also announced its entry into Ireland and Indonesia.

Twitter reaches Ireland and Indonesia

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Twitter addicts don’t need to worry about hopping a flight to Indonesia or Ireland any more. The white-hot microblogging service has expanded its footprint to these two countries, with local mobile carriers making Twitter available by SMS without charging any extra fees. Twitter was worried about overseas expansion for a while, because texting costs outside the United States were likely to prevent user adoption.

If you’re in Indonesia and are a customer of 3 Indonesia, the local carrier, Twitter becomes even more valuable. TwitPic is incorporated via MMS, making it possible to tweet pictures easily.And, the folks over at Twitter say more countries are coming, but there’s already a pretty impressive list on board already.

Twitter Follow Friday — launch edition

by Scott Carmichael on

Welcome to a new weekly feature here on Gadling – Twitter Follow Friday. For the sake of this article, I’ll assume that you know what Twitter is (or that you are willing to go look it up).

In Twitter Follow Friday, we’ll pick some of the best tweets of the week, and help you follow the Gadling team on Twitter. There are several ways to add us to your own Twitter account – but the easiest is to head on over to TweepML.

Inside TweepML, we have created a list with the entire team, and you can add us with just one click.

That was pretty easy eh? If you’d prefer to follow us the new way (Twitter Lists), then you’ll want to start following this list: Twitter Gadling list. And finally, if you’d prefer to keep things to a minimum, just follow the @Gadling account.

Now that you are following us, its time to move on to some of the best tweets of the past week. Every week, we’ll select some of the best stuff from the 1,072 people we follow. If you found something really good, or you’d just like to pimp your own Tweets, let us know with a tweet or RT using the hash tag #gadlingtweets.

Here are some of the best Tweets we caught this week – if you like what you see, why not start following these people? We’ve made a Tweepml making it easier to add them all in just one click!

Today’s first, comes from newbie Gadling blogger Melanie Nayer (@chic_travel). I’m convinced that if we follow her great articles, we’ll eventually learn just what that “understanding” is.

Ain’t this the truth – the day you become the answer of a question in our awesome weekly travel trivia, you know you have finally “arrived”. Not entirely sure where you’ve arrived, but you are there! Thanks Leif!

This one involves two things I really like (@Virginamerica and @Gogoinflight), and one I’d rather not have to see myself when I fly (@footmassagesinflight is not taken!). @TheBudak

Yes – commenters… Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. But we still love them! @EverywhereTrip

Airlines are cutting corners on the inflight entertainment? @LPUSAstaff

Sadly, Orville was stopped at airport security for trying to carry a bottle of water on board. @hharteveldt

Nothing says Hanukkah like a mariachi band! @nerdseyeview

I absolutely love “people watching” at the airport – you just know that you will always run into someone who looks like they belong on “people of Walmart“. @reidontravel

Destinations feature highly in top Twitter trends of 2009

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It wasn’t explicit, but the top Twitter trends of 2009 have a hint of travel built into them. Sure, it was the elections in Iran that put made “Tehran” and “Iran” among the top 10 news items trending this year, and politics pushed “Gaza” up there, as well. And, we all remember the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic, which has been memorialized in the form of “Swine Flu” and “#swineflu” on the microblogging site. Six of the top 10 new trends on Twitter had implications for travelers.

Twitter exploded this year, entering the public consciousness and drawing enough action to bring its user base close to 60 million. Travel writers spent the year devising new ways to use Twitter to help their readers circle the globe and suggesting interesting and unusual tweet-masters to follow. So, 2009 was for exploration, and 2010 will put Twitter on the mobile devices of even recreational travelers as they look for hotel rooms, hunt for cheap fares and try to get the lay of the land at the destinations on their itineraries.

Beyond tips and tricks, a travel community developed on Twitter, with bloggers and reporters, destinations and publicists and travelers of all types collaborating to help each other get the most out of every jaunt. We learned who has the best info through such practices as #TravelTuesday, which gave everyone recommendations on whom to follow.

Travel didn’t gain enough of a profile to unseat the major newsmakers, top movies and TV shows and major sporting events, but there was plenty of travel intel we were able to pick up from the news trends – especially for those of us with a more adventurous bent – and the action within our own community was certainly enough to prove the value of this tool to jetsetters of all types.

So, peck away at your devices next year, and let’s resolve to contribute to a robust, useful and exciting travel tweet-stream in 2010. Even if we don’t make the top 10 for travel reasons at this time next year, we’ll all have benefitted from the shared experiences of millions of airport-dwellers, business travelers and adventure-seekers. Whether they’re on-the-ground updates on delayed flights or tips on where to get the best hotdog in a strange place, it’s up to us to give each other news we can use.

Lindsay Lohan rescues child laborers in India…or not

by Katie Hammel on

Looks like miss Lindsay Lohan has gone on a little “liecation” recently.

The actress/singer/celebrity trainwreck posted a message on Twitter that made it sound like she personally took part in a raid that saved child laborers in India while there filming a documentary for the BBC. “Over 40 children saved so far…Within one day’s work…This is what life is about…Doing THIS is a life worth living!!!”

But according to the New York Daily News, the charity that performed the raid in New Delhi said Lohan wasn’t even in India at the times. A rep for the BBC came to Lohan’s defense and said that her tweet never said that Lohan personally was there. It’s all just a misunderstanding, she said.

Maybe…or maybe Lindsay just didn’t follow Scott’s advice about how to create the perfect liecation and not get caught.