2010 - The Year of Profile Burnout?

I recently attended Jaunted’s “Travel Gets Social: The New World of Travel Media” event at the 92Y Tribeca. If you didn’t hear about it (*cough* then get out from under your rock *cough*) the panel line-up included The New York Times‘ Matt Gross (a.k.a. the Frugal Traveler), Virgin America’s Manager of Online and Digital Marketing Bowen Payson, New Media Director for Roger Smith Hotel Adam Wallace and Jaunted/HotelChatter/VegasChatter founder Mark G. Johnson.

Jaunted already did us the favor of recapping the evening’s topics of discussion (as you’ll see, the panelists provided commentary on their social media experiences past and present (from Friendster to Facebook) and raved about the greatness of up-and-comer Foursquare). Many people in the room seemed to already know about Foursquare but had never taken the time to sign up and explore it thoroughly (frankly, because free time is scarce for everyone these days). Which brings me to my point. Jaunted somehow neglected to note an important question that arose that night:

Are we approaching “profile burnout”? Will 2010 be the year that people streamline their social media presences? (FYI - I vote yes.)

In this, the first decade of the new millennium, we have been forced to “evolve or die,” that is, subscribe to every social media network deemed “on trend” or risk sinking into the world of the unknown. The allure of these outlets are powerful (anyone else need a Twitter exorcism? Because I sure do!), yet managing them all effectively is terribly time-consuming. Too often, user accounts become neglected (think of all those who have Twitter accounts with 0 followers and 2 tweets, but are highly active on Facebook). There is simply not enough time for the average person, company or brand to effectively establish a presence across more than a couple of social media outlets within a given time-frame.

One panelist at Jaunted’s event suggested that 2010 might be the year that we begin to streamline our social media presence. That is, identify those outlets that are most relevant for our personal or business/brand message and do away with the others. Personally, I can’t remember my MySpace login details and don’t intend to try to. With all the advances Facebook has made over the last few years, particularly video-sharing and fan pages, I find MySpace to be quite pointless (anyone who wants to argue otherwise is welcome to do so). I’d like to give this Foursquare thing a try though, if my twaddiction will allow.

So, what do you think, reader? Do you plan to edit your collection of social media profiles in 2010? What are your social media resolutions for the New Year?

Discuss…

-Andréa S.

Free Press Junket in Jamaica….You’re Fired!

JetBlue and Thrillist saw a lot of buzz over the past week or so with their Jet Mystery trip that took lucky Thrillist readers and an apparent airplane full of bloggers and journalists on a luxe, all-expense-paid trip to Jamaica.  Media getting a comped trip, go fig?

As a travel PR gal, it certainly is never a shocker when major publications like Conde Nast Traveler & The Wall Street Journal decline to participate in these familiarization trips to learn about the amenities, culture, attractions, or whatever it is destinations are looking to market.  But when Cision’s weekly Media Updates reports the following about a New York Times freelancer….wowza!

Mike Albo, a fashion and travel writer for The New York Times, has been fired by the paper. In what can be considered a violation of ethical standards against accepting free trips, Albo accepted a trip to a media junket in Jamaica hosted by JetBlue and Thrillist.

-Sally

Ruthanne Terrero Explains Why I “Unfollow” on Twitter…

If you’re like me, there are times you’ve followed various reporters or self-proclaimed industry “experts” on Twitter because you expect them to offer up their opinions on or inside info about their relevant areas of expertise. Much to your chagrin, weeks later you realize that said Twitterer is social-media handicapped and all you’ve learned about them is that they’re excited to see the return of Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte this fall and their girlfriend had to take their puppy to the doggy E.R. last week. The result…unfollow.

There’s a group of journalists and reputable industry personalities who just don’t get Twitter and the potential it offers for personal branding. TravelAgent Central’s Ruthanne Terrero apparently noticed the same thing and wrote a great piece last week entitled, “You May Be Messing Up Your Twitter Strategy; Here’s How to Repair It,” in which she explains that, for many, Twitter has become “a personal social network and not a professional venue through which [they] can demonstrate [their] travel expertise.”

Ruthanne highlights ten tips to remedy one’s Twitter strategy. My favorites are:

1. Post links to interesting travel articles preceded by your own provocative and insightful comments.

2. You can also share useful information, say, if you read in your local paper that an interesting festival is coming up. You don’t always have to share a link. If you can say it in 140 characters, you’re all set.

3. Share practical travel advice you collect in the course of your personal travels or daily life. This could be transfer information from an airport to a hotel in a strange city or it might be a tip on how to get around your own town.

6. Don’t engage in casual conversation in the public timeline. Your followers don’t want to see isolated comments from you that say, “LOL, I never knew that!” This is alienating, not engaging.

8. You may have created a Twitter persona that’s meant to be a bit snarky. Nothing wrong with that, as that can be quite engaging, but don’t be overly snarky. You’ll become predictable all too soon.

I won’t be mean and call out any tweeps that have neglected to adhere to these easy-to-follow rules in the past. I will only hope that they take heed and make the “tworld” a better place for you and for me.

-Andréa S.

Track Me in the Air with Lufthansa’s MySkyStatus

By the time you read this, I should be boarding my plane and kicking off my vacation to Prague and Budapest! I recently heard about Lufthansa’s new MySkyStatus tool, which tracks your airplane’s journey and posts your flight status to Twitter and Facebook automatically, so I figured I’d try it out. (I’m flying Delta, but Lufthansa will track your flight on any airline, not just its own.) I know this will give my worried mom some peace of mind while I’m traveling. Check out my Twitter page to see if Lufthansa is mentioning the places I’m flying over — hope it works!

—Alyssa

Google Gives The Ultimate Holiday Gift: Free WiFi On Virgin America Flights

I must  be a sucker for good branding, because I love Google and Virgin (despite my terrible fear of flying).

Knowing that Google has offered to foot the WiFi bill for everybody on board Virgin America flights between November 10 and January 15 makes me love the li’l old monopoly even more.

What does Google get out of this partnership, you ask? As one commenter put it:

“It’s safe to assume that passengers will land on a Google-sponsored landing page (or the Google homepage itself) when they begin their “free” inflight Web experience. This is a great way to feature the Google brand, create buzz around a small marketing spend (compared to TV, etc.), and increase the chance that passengers will perform their searches via Google.”

Whatever Google’s rationale, I’m sure these flights will book up fast!

-Maria