Image: NYCArthur
I absolutely love Twitter. I was obsessed from the very beginning.
Joining the travel community changed everything, though. I started by following a few of the big names in travel, and in time, I found myself in an enormous community of intelligent, kind and absolutely hilarious people . And it’s SO much fun. I love the tweeting; I love the conversations; I adore my followers!
There’s an art to using Twitter for travel. Some people are great at it. Some aren’t.
Here are ten ways to become a good travel tweeter:
1. Join #TNI! Travelers’ Night In , founded by the ladies at ZipSetGo.com , is one of the highlights of my week. Every Thursday from 3:30-5:00 ET, travel lovers discuss 10 different travel questions and share travel stories, all under the #TNI tag. If you can’t make it, I write the #TNI Recaps on this site every week.
#TNI is a place to learn about new destinations and fun things to do around the world — as well as tell inappropriate stories and laugh your ass off. All are welcome, so even if you rarely tweet about travel, don’t be afraid to join right in!
2. Share great travel content. Come across an interesting travel story? Enjoy a travel blog post? Share it with your followers! And if the author is on Twitter, please mention him or her, too. Every writer loves being appreciated!
3. Be considerate and responsive. If someone asks you a question, answer it. If someone pays you a nice compliment, thank him or her. I know this sounds like the basics, but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t do these things.
Even if you have upwards of 10,000 followers, it’s not hard to take 10 minutes once a day to comb through your replies and respond to the thoughtful ones. You don’t have to follow everyone. Just be kind.
4. Follow wisely. I follow about one third of the people who follow me. Some people follow everyone back. I prefer to keep my levels manageable. But if you interact with me, we chat a bit, and I like what you tweet, of course I’ll start following you!
Keep your followee level at what works for you. You’ll be much happier that way. And if not, you can always make Twitter more manageable with lists!
5. Don’t exclusively promote your own content. Twitter is for interaction, not a PR stream. If you are a travel blogger who only promotes his or her own content, it will be incredibly obvious to the rest of us.
6. Go easy on the hashtags! Any more than three is going overboard. And use hashtags that people might actually search for!
Good:
adventurouskate What to Eat in Florence, Italy http://bit.ly/c4sr0z #food #italy
adventurouskate Celebrity Hangouts in #Vegas http://bit.ly/8YQHPv #travel
Bad:
adventurouskate What to Eat in Florence, Italy http://bit.ly/c4sr0z #food #italy #italia #firenze #meat #wine #su #lp #travel
adventurouskate #Celebrity #Hangouts in #Las #Vegas http://bit.ly/8YQHPv #travel #celebs #nightlife #lasvegas
7. Don’t beg people to share your content. If I ever see “please retweet” on a tweet that isn’t about an emergency (think Amber Alert) or for a worthy cause (“i need to raise $500 for breast cancer research asap!”), I’m unfollowing you immediately.
Don’t beg your followers for retweets, stumbles or comments. If your content is good, people will share it.
8. Import FourSquare wisely. Integrating FourSquare can be a smart move, but more often than not, you’ll end up just annoying your followers.
If you’re going to connect FourSquare to your Twitter account, don’t set it to tweet every update. Tweet when you have something of value to share. We don’t want to hear about your errands.
Good:
adventurouskate Best clam chowdah in Boston! (@ Legal Sea Foods)
adventurouskate Just landed in NYC! (@ JFK Airport)
Bad:
adventurouskate I’m at Hynes Convention Center Station.
adventurouskate I’m at CVS Pharmacy.
Check into as many mundane places as you’d like on FourSquare…just don’t tweet them!
9. Make the most of #traveltuesday. #Traveltuesday has two purposes for the Twitter travel community: to share travel-related stories and advice, and to spotlight your favorite travel tweeters.
Sometimes, #traveltuesday doesn’t seem that different from most days, since we travel tweeters already live and breathe travel 24/7! But this is the best opportunity to highlight both your own and other people’s content, as well as your favorite travelers (think #followfriday lists, but for travel). Share the love!
10. Tap your followers as a resource. Within an hour of asking for things to do during a brief trip to New York, I had a slew of suggestions: a fashion exhibit at the Met, ice cream to try at Momofuku, pubs to visit in the Village!
We love to share our favorite places, and we know how to get off the beaten track in popular destinations. All you have to do is ask!
What are you tips for travel tweeters?
