Specific traveling information on the best local spots and pre-travel planning was once only available through your travel agent and via standard travel guides. Thankfully, online social media has blown the lid off of travel information, allowing you to benefit from a variety of media tools for use before and while you're traveling
Local Hotspots Want to avoid tourist traps and scout the best local secrets? The advent of online social media helps you get in touch with the best local destinations, businesses and restaurants through community review sites and travel boards. Thousands of Internet users have flocked to travel review sites and message boards to offer their opinion on the best local destinations. Local reviews will let you know the truth about what locations are must-sees and which ones you're better off avoiding.
Practically every popular international travel destination is covered and you can quickly access them through wired or wireless Internet connectivity. Best of all, popular travel review sites pinpoint the exact coordinates of each locale via Google Maps, so you can spend less time searching and more time enjoying the local secrets.
Travel Logs Travel logs allow you to upload descriptions, photos and videos of places you've traveled too. This can be a great way to keep track of findings as you are traveling or afterwards when you're sifting through pictures and memories of your travel. The fact that communities are built through these popular travel log sites means that you can look through member's profiles to help you with your own travels. You can follow the trips, photo journals, reviews and blogs of other members to get a glimpse of what life is like in your preferred travel destination.
City Profiles Most people use major cities as the focal points in their travels, so it's not surprising to find out that there are several online social media sites that focus on city profiles. These sites are often embedded with Google Maps, allowing you to effectively plan out your route from beginning to end. The city profiles are usually partitioned into categories based on eateries, places to stay and areas to visit. City profile media sites are most beneficial for quickly planning the next day's itinerary. They are usually supplemented with small user reviews for specific locales and are linked to social picture sharing sites so you can view pictures of the location taken by real travelers and even upload your own.
Travel Deals Travel related businesses such as hotels and airlines are quickly trying to get involved with social media networks to improve customer relations. The massive popularity of up-to-date social networking systems such as Facebook and Twitter are now great ways for businesses to offer special travel deals. Keeping a keen eye out on the social network pages of airlines, hotels and travel sites may lead to your next budget travel deal. Airlines have become the biggest proponent of travel deals through social media by offering last minute deals on seats that have gone unsold or have been recently cleared for availability.
Group Traveling The ability to get in touch with practically anyone around the world now means that you can essentially plan group travels with local friends or people in far off places by simply using social media. Popular social networks are excellent tools for preparing travel plans with others, befriending future or current buddies, getting in touch with locals you've met on previous travels, and keeping your other friends informed about the latest happenings during your travels.
Other sites take it a step further by acting as social travel platforms where you can post travel plans for others to join in on or collaborate with individuals who are traveling in the same area as you. There are even dedicated social media services that allow you to find hospitable locals who are willing to provide you with a couch to sleep on while you're traveling.
Using social media when traveling is something you should take full advantage of. By staying informed on the latest social media tools, you can keep in touch with others when traveling, find the best local travel spots, snatch your next budget airline ticket and create your own online travel log for friends to see.
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