Social media is such a powerful tool that it can either be used for good or harm. This is particularly true when it comes to travel. As a tourist, there are dozens of ways to harness the power of social media to enhance your trip and improve your experience. However, there are also some major mistakes you can make if you’re not careful.
You want your trip to be the best possible, whether it’s for business or pleasure, and the key to the success of your trip may hinge on your social media use. Using social media responsibly during travel will increase your chances for an excellent trip.
Do: Use Pinterest for trip planning ideas.
Pinterest is the classic dreamer’s website. It’s full of ideas people dream about doing someday. When you’re planning your trip, turn some of those dreams into reality by using the many pinned ideas regarding travel. Pin ideas for photography poses, places to visit, ways to improve packing, travel tips, and much more. The many pins on your Pinterest travel board will help you to stay organized in both thought and action before, during, and after your trip.
Don’t: Talk about being away from home for an extended period.
Unfortunately, posting about being away from home for an extended period is a burglar’s dream. Many burglars peruse social media sites to see whose home will be empty for several days while the owners are on vacation, making it the perfect target for thievery. The Internet makes it extremely easy to find all the personal information any burglar might need, including your home address. It’s best to tell people the dates of your trip in person rather than through post or comment, and it’s always a good idea to ask a neighbor to keep an eye on the house while you’re away.
Do: Use Twitter to connect with airlines and hotels.
Whether you’re looking for excellent deals on flights and accommodations or you need to check flight statuses and room availability, Twitter is a great way to connect. Tweeting about the great experience you had with a certain company can get you freebies or discount coupons, and hotels and airlines are no exception. You can also use apps and your hotel or airline tweets to check statuses and average response times if you need to contact them.
Don’t: Obsess over photo sharing.
You definitely want to take pictures on your trip. Failing to document your travel would be something you’ll likely regret for the rest of your life. But you don’t need pictures of every little thing, and you certainly don’t need to post them all on social media just moments after taking them. If you’re traveling, you’re likely there to do some sightseeing and exploring, and if you’re glued to your phone or tablet the entire time to keep up with your posting, you’ll miss a lot of amazing things. So, to ensure you enjoy your trip as much as possible, save the photo posting until you get home, or at least until you retire to your hotel room for the night.
Do: Ask for advice from friends.
Reviews from people you love and trust are priceless when planning a trip, and there really is no better way to get advice from these people than through social media. One Facebook post or Tweet can easily yield enough valuable results to apply to your trip, making it the best experience possible. It’s worth taking advantage of the wide spread nature of social media in order to get productive advice on trip planning.
Don’t: Disrespect cultural expectations.
And finally, be sure you use social media responsibly, and avoid posting material that would be offensive to the country you’re visiting. For example, in some Islamic countries, taking photos of women and sharing them with others is not only highly offensive to the families, but also can be illegal.
Furthermore, according to Thomas Hollowell of Journey Beyond Travel, people in developing countries, such as Morocco, aren’t as familiar with modern technology. Taking a photo with the people of that country and posting it to social media may be offensive and even frightening for them.
Overall, you don’t want your trip to turn sour just because you couldn’t log out of Facebook or Twitter long enough to enjoy it. You want to look back on this trip with fond memories, and you don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.
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