Social media provides the easiest channel to prepare for a trip and gather information from friends — or from individuals you don’t even know. Let’s face it, people are willing to share their personal information.
On Facebook, update your status and ask friends for advice on places to see, food to eat, and more. Return the favor, and let everyone know how about your experience by posting updates via comments. Don’t forget to share pictures, too.
Another popular site, Twitter, can be used to perform keyword searches from the homepage. You won’t even need to build a network to find the most current information on any destination.
Hint: Be sure to follow Gadling for travel tips on Facebook and on Twitter.
It looks like Spain is the latest destination to use a clever Facebook campaign to drum up some interest among traveling social media users. Free vacations are being offered to users who provide the best answers to questions about Spain and its customs. The contest is set to last through the end of February, so there’s still time for you to get in on the action. Winners wil receive a one-week trip ever year for three years, including airfare and lodging at Parador hotels, which are refurbished castles and monasteries – not a bad way to roll. If you think you have what it takes to get your vacations covered for the next three years,head over to Facebook to prove it!
Tripatini is a new site in the Ning.com family, a fast growing platform for social networking. Anyone can create a Ning.com site, but Tripatini is flourishing with an interesting concept — allowing media experts and rookie travelers to get together.
David Paul Appell, a veteran journalist (Conde Nast, Harper Collins, Hearst Magazines, Frommer’s) and social network developer, re-branded Go-Lo.com as Tripatini in October of last year, saying, “We’re getting fabulous response from both the travel media and trade as well as the general public, but our original name, reflecting a focus on budget travel primarily, was proving too limiting. Today we choose ‘Tripatini’ not just because it sounds more fun — a potent, sophisticated cocktail of travel — but because it more clearly telegraphs ‘travel’ and is more welcoming, inclusive, and versatile.” Not long after that, The New York Post called Tripatini “Facebook for travelers.”
Once you’re all signed up for Tripatini (really easy, especially if you’re already on any other Ning sites), you can make yourself a profile, then join groups. The groups function much like Yahoo Groups and other message boards of yore; there are discussion threads where you can ask a question or post pertinent information for the group. Currently, the leading group on Tripatini is Media Only, which has 371 members (at time of writing) talking about the Chris Elliott scandal, suggesting eco-friendly hotels for one journalist’s story and whinging about freelancer issues (Examiner.com is taking a beating on that thread). Other groups are location-based, so if you’re planning a trip to, say, Malta, you can join the Malta group to get info or discuss the country with other travelers, PR folks and media experts.
Tripatini also offers to host your own travel-related blog, videos and pics, and has both chat and travel shopping functionalities. If you’re interested, click here to check it out!
Facebook has released its trend analysis of the top words appearing in status updates in 2009. Unlike the Twitter worldview, which had some terms that could be seen as travel-related, Facebook users appear to have spent more time at home. Sure, there’s the obligatory H1N1 mention, which impacted the travel-hungry throughout the year … but that’s it. What cements the seemingly sedentary characteristic of the Facebook addict this year is #13 on its “memology” report (meme = online slang for trend or fad) is “yard.”
We’ve all grown to loathe the coined word “staycation,” but as much as we try to ignore the word, the underlying tendency can’t be ignored. Just how the hell did “yard” come in at #13? It’s the antithesis of travel – of mobility, really – and drives home the notion that low fares and dirt-cheap hotel rooms weren’t enough to get us out of our own plots in 2009.
Facebook admits to some surprise at this meme on the list, saying, “This is a trend that nobody would have guessed.” Can’t get blunter than that, right?The social network’s blog post continues, “The word “yard” seems fairly uncommon, and indeed it barely breaches a rate of five mentions in every 10,000 status updates. When we compare 2009 to 2008, however, we see a huge increase.”
It’s possible, according to Facebook, that it’s a result of more “moms and dads” coming to Facebook and letting the world know via status updates that they are either working or spending time in the most suburban of land masses, as “these folks have yards that require some tending.”
Does this mean that Twitter users are younger? Or, just more active than their Facebook counterparts? Obviously, it’s impossible to say, but it’s a bit fun to guess. Of course, I cheated a bit with our interpretation of Twitter a few weeks ago, so the chasm isn’t as vast as I may have made it appear.
So, let’s try to change the situation in 2010. Link your Twitter account to your Facebook page and push your travel-related updates hard. Live tweet the hour you wait in line at the security checkpoint, or gripe about the lousy service you get from the airlines. Do something – do anything. Let’s change the face of social media … and put a travel mask on it!
Social media means that airlines just have another place where they can be raked over the coals. We complain to ticket agents. We complain to gate agents. We complain to customer service reps. And now, we can complain to the world, thanks to the likes of Twitter. I, for example, follow @DeltaSucks, though there hasn’t been any action on it in several months. I don’t just listen, though. When I’m stuck in an airport, I tweet relentlessly, and I know I’m not alone.
So, what’s an airline to do about this? And Facebook? And YouTube?
The attack is coming on all fronts, and an industry that’s been beaten up so severely and so often has few options. For now, the response is limited to tweeting fare deals, but obviously, that does little to address the continued stream of negative exposure to which the airlines are subjected.
When in doubt, the philosophy on social media complaints appears to be silence. Continental and American Airlines wouldn’t comment on recent tweets from disgruntled fliers, according to a Reuters report. They are monitoring and claim to be responding, but that’s about all. Billy Sanez, who manages social media for American’s parent, AMR, believes that these platforms make it easier to open a dialogue with passengers … but where is that dialogue?
When I got pissed off at JetBlue a year ago, I wrote about it on my personal blog and heard nothing from JetBlue. But, I did hear from other passengers … one of whom was afraid to say too much because he was still in transit and didn’t want to risk angering the airline. This level of paranoia may be extreme, but the implication is clear: passengers could find even a small blog, but airlines are squandering a chance to really engage the people who pay their bills.
Christi Day, who takes care of Twitter and Facebook for Southwest Airlines, told Reuters, “The main thing that our customers need to know is that we hear them.” But, again, there is no discussion of what the airline is doing about it.
Customers finally have a voice, and as we saw with “United Breaks Guitars,” it can get pretty loud. While the airlines may be listening, we’re still waiting for the second half of “dialogue” to happen.