Category: Twitter

Some 20+ random Tips for Twittaholics

Happy Hotelier's Tweet Wheel
Happy Hotelier’s Tweet Wheel [The site is out of order since]

Twittoholics ?

Some claim Twitter is already over its top and some say it’s going to eat Google now that it has its own search facility…..I don’t know, but I do see Twitter becoming an ever growing source of (travel) information and (travel) inspiration for travelers and for myself in particular. So probably I’m a Twittoholic already.

Some 20+ Random Tips, Lists and Tools for Twittaholics

I’ve been looking around a bit, because as soon as you hit the magic 2000 Twitter cap – the number of people you can follow without Twitter blocking you until, as I understand it correctly, you have at least 90% of 2000, or more than 1800 followers yourself-, you will have to make decisions about who to follow and who not to follow on Twitter. In addition, the more followers you are getting, the more difficult it becomes to pinpoint a certain person if you want to share a certain piece of information with that person.

I’ve started to try and make my own Twitter Followers page manually by simply copying and pasting code from my followers page on Twitter. However I found out very soon that to be too time consuming. So I’ve looked for alternative ways to get some overview on Twitter. Better alternatives to get that overview is Friend or Follow (number 17 of the list) or Twitter Karma (number 11 of the list):

Not in a particular order, more in my usual hap snap way, here are some of my findings for you:

  1. If you’re new to Twitter look at this short video introduction: Twitter Introduction.
  2. Mashable posted Twitter Toolbox 60+Tools and Twittermania: 140+ More Twitter Tools! and more on the Twitter Tools subject.
  3. i-Stuff… Interesting Stuff that Matters: Twitter has an ample series of posts about Twitter Tools with annotations.
  4. If you’re interested in the Top 100 Dutch Twitterati, you can find them at Top 100 Twittergids NL.
  5. The Dutch site Twittergids is helpful anyway to pinpoint Dutch Twitterati in several categories. In its Travel Section I occupy the second position for the moment.
  6. Kevin Rose posted 10 tips 10 Ways to increase your Twitter Following recently.
  7. The post Dirty Secret Increase Followers Twitter also has some good tips. There I found the best balancing tool to balance those who follow you and those you are following: Less Friends Com.
  8. Kidtech Guru published a list of top 3 Twitterati in various countries
  9. Ouside my Brain listed some of the funniest Tweets he knows.
  10. Then you have the “real” Twittaholic with 1,000 top Twitterati. A list I’m not (yet:-)) on.
  11. Twitter Karma does it for me for the moment as it gives you a quick overview of the Followers and those you are Following with an option to block follow or block unfollow.
  12. WeFollow is the latest trend. Seems to be a start up of one of the guys behind Digg. I proudly Twittered that I was number one under their Hotel tag, but was soon repositioned as the number 2:-). Its Hotelier tag counts only 3 hoteliers Its Travel tag presently counts 79 pages with 1,963 Travel Twitterati
  13. Maybe interested in the Austrian Top 100? I am. I found a cool cook there.
  14. Amsterdam Based Twitter Counter can be useful.
  15. With FriendorFollow you get a quick overview of your followers or those you follow. For balancing it is less handy than Karma because you’ll have to manually follow of unfollow.
  16. Twitter Grader is another useful ranking tool to monitor your fellow Twitterati On its Dutch List I’m number 36 today
  17. Tweetscan is fine
  18. See my next post: Give you beloved one a pc and teach him/her to Tweet, you might keep your relation in tact:-)
  19. Tweepi seems a decent tool to more or less mass unfollow people. I found it at Mashable in their Spring Cleaning post.
  20. Top 50 Twitter Tracking and Analytics Tools For further reference.

Last edited by GJE on January 2, 2017

Twitter Intermezzo: What should Hotel Owners know about Social Media and Internet Marketing?

question

What should Hotel Owners know about Social Media and Internet Marketing?
While winding down from #itb09, this question came up via Twitter.

read-bill-marriott-blog

My first reaction was: At least they should start reading Bill Marriot’s Blog. A good example!

thank-you

Cool, Thanks for that.

answer-2

My second reaction was: Plus they should read:

  1. #sxswtravel,
  2. #itb09, and
  3. #smstravel

Travel by Twitter (update): #Twitchhiker Day 8

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9 Bridges in Newcastle upon Tyne by Twitchhiker

I’m following @Twitchhiker also know as @Paul A Smith in his endeavor to “travel around the world in 30 days“. Well, actually he tries to travel just half of the world in 30 days: As far from Newcastle upon Tyne where he lives, to Campbell Island in the neighborhood of NZ, solely with the help of his Twitter followers. He reports extensively about the trip on his blog Twitchhiker (see also his site Never Odd or Even).

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Campbell Island

Twestivals gave him the idea of linking Charity: Water as the beneficiary of donations which you can make at JustGiving.com/Twitchhiker.

You can follow him on Twit Pic, on Flickr as Twitchhiker and on Youtube as… Twitchhiker of course. Here is his latest YouTube podcast:

I posted about this trip in Travel by Twitter: #Twitchhiker is taking off – First Leg #Amsterdam and in (a copied) post: The Twitchhiker: one man on a Twitter travel mission | Travel | guardian.co.uk.

He gets an amazing coverage all around the World. Since you can follow his day to day experiences on his blog Twithchiker and on Twitter Search Twitchhiker yourself, I would like only to share some odd details with you:

Before he left the typical British habit of settling every future uncertainty in betting inspired Paul to a Betting Post with quotes and all:

7/2 Twitchhiker to reach Campbell Island within 30 days

10/1 Twitchhiker to reach Campbell Island within a week

7/4 Twitchhiker not to get out of Britain

5/4 Twitchhiker not to get of Europe

2/1 Twitchhiker to have to abandon his mission due to lack of support from tweeps

8/1 Twitchhiker to become a movie within the next 5 years.

Well he succeeded to get out of Britain within a day…into Amsterdam

I offered him shelter for the night in my small hotel in The Hague which is close to Amsterdam, but in his post Going against the Grain he understandably explains that traveling from Amsterdam to the Hague would not bring him far that day, so he choose for Paris and to sleep there in a Hostel next to:

some hulk of dutch man who was snoring like a pneumatic hammer trapped in a washing machine locked in a filing cabinet been kicked down a hill. It was very funny for the first five minute, less so for the hours that followed.

twitchhiker-before-boarding-for-new-york-city-at-schiphol
Twitchhiker before boarding for NYC at Schiphol, Amsterdam Airport

Via Germany he doubled back to Amsterdam Schiphol and Flew into New York City. From there he traveled to Washington DC

Currently Twitchhiker is being driven by a very persistent and enthusiastic Ken Morill AKA @Yenra in beautiful a open Ford Mustang that has been brilliantly tagged by Ken’s daughter:

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The Mustang Twitchhiker Logo

Also to be seen at @Yenra’s Flickr account:

mustang-side-magnet

Up to Pitssburgh

Travel by Twitter: #Twitchhiker is Taking Off – First Leg #Amsterdam

the-5-stages-of-twitter-denial
By Influential Marketing Blog via Zingalism

Yesterday between noon GMT and 01.00PM the Twitchhiker project took off. Sunday 1rst of March in the evening The Twitchhiker will leave Great Britain with a ferry and he will arrive in Amsterdam at approximately 11.30hr AM in Amsterdam Central Station.

I admire the initiative and am fascinated by it.

I picked it up at the Guardian and posted about it earlier. In general the idea is that the Twitchhiker, Paul Smith, a gentlemen from Newcastle upon Tyne in North East Great Britain travels to the other side of the world solely relying on the hospitality and help of his followers on Twitter. As an aside he has decided to have Charity: Water as the beneficiary of donations which you can make at JustGiving.com/Twitchhiker. As of the moment I write this there are already donations of over UK pnd 1,800 of a targeted UK pnd 3,000.

Paul used to have a proper job in radio, but now writes about media for the Guardian, and blogs about radio, TV and tech for several other websites.

There are 5 rules to observe:

The are five rules I have to follow throughout the 30 days. Obviously I’m at liberty to bend them if certain death or amputation will otherwise occur, but I’ll do my best to stick to them. If I find myself in a situation that follows the letter of the rules but goes against their spirit, I’ll ask those following me for guidance:

I can only accept offers of travel and accommodation on Twitter, from users who are following @twitchhiker
This means if a Twitterer’s sister’s boyfriend’s father has a spare train ticket, I can’t use it; the help the person has to be a Twitter user, and they have to be able to directly action the offer of help. This may be too restrictive, but I want to draw on the support of the Twitter community, not to use Twitter as a search engine to find third party services.

I can’t make any plans further than three days in advance
It’s entirely possible that before I begin this challenge, I could have my entire route pre-determined and that would be no fun at all. So unless an offer of transport or accommodation is made within 72 hours of it being applicable, I can’t accept it. Damn.

I can only spend money on food, drink and anything that might fit in my suitcase
All travel and accommodation must be offered to me through Twitter. If I can’t, then I’m sleeping rough.

If there’s more than one offer on the table, I get to choose which I take. If there’s only one, I have to take it within 48 hours.
I’m not entirely happy about this bit. If any part of this challenge is going to see me dead in a ditch or under a patio, it’s this part.

If I’m unable to find a way to move on from a location within 48 hours, the challenge is over and I go home.
I hope my fellow Twitterers won’t let that happen.

If you follow his blog Twitchhiker you will see a description of all things involved in such adventure.

A similar experience on a one day trip is described by Guardian journalist Benji Lanyado Paris TwiTrip The Verdict who did find it a very positive experience.

See also Indie Travel Podcaster’s Interview of today.

The start was an amazing Tweetup where #twitchhiker reached no 1 hashtag status. He could choose to go to Amsterdam, London, or Paris and let the Twitterati vote:

This is the outcome of the poll:

twitchhiker-poll-1

As per my credo “You should Party in Amsterdam, but you should Sleep in The Hague” I’ve offered the Twitchhiker a night at our Haagsche Suites monday night, which he hasn’t accepted (yet?), as he has adopted the plan to go directly to Paris from Amsterdam. Apparently even without even spending a couple of hours in Amsterdam. I believe he could reach the other en of the world in 5 days….so in my view he could spend some time sleeping a bit here and there…maybe he will rethink his provisional decision and take a wiser decision on sunday.

I’ve also tried to wake up the Dutch Tourist Community to throw something in the throng, but they seem sound asleep (as usual).

DMO's Twittermania results in a Twitter Fail Whale Tattoo – How Bizarre can you Get!

twitter_tattoo-01
This is the Tattoo
baltimorefailwhale
This is the example

Recently we have seen some twittermania about The ultimate Job and two other city DMO’s (stands for Destination Marketing Organization) hiring bloggers to further their goals. But this one is the ultimate (yet?).

According to the blog MGH Word of Mouth / Social Media Marketing- Baltimore This is the story:

What Won’t We Do For Our Clients?

It’s true – here at MGH WOM, we go the distance for our clients. We really mean this. In fact, there isn’t much we wouldn’t do for them, and that includes defacing our body for their benefit. And, in case you are wondering what the heck we are talking about, we’d love to give you a quick recap.

On Monday, February 23, 2009, an innocent tweet went out on Twitter asking people what city would be the first to have 3,000 followers: @visitchicago or @travelportland? Both of the cities had around 2,700 followers at the time, and it was anyone’s game. But, one of our clients – the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (@BaltimoreMD) – saw this tweet and decided that even though they only had 1,700 followers at the time, it was completely possible to hurry up and beat either one of them to it. That is where they called on MGH WOM.

So, we, being the “never turn down a challenge” competitive fools that we are, decided to stand behind @BaltimoreMD and join the challenge to see who could get 3,000 followers first by midnight.

Knowing that it was nearly impossible to collect that many new followers within the given time period, we knew we had to do something drastic. More specifically, Ryan – our WOM Strategy Director – put even more “skin in the game” by offering to get the very well-known Twitter fail whale tattoo (with Baltimore’s Natty Boh in it) if we succeeded in getting @BaltimoreMD a total of 3,000 followers by midnight. And the tattoo idea is what drove the followers.

To get the ball rolling, we tweeted from a fun account that MGH WOM built up (also known as tweetbomb) that had a big following to try to get the word out to follow @BaltimoreMD. And, within minutes of sending out the first request, the follower number began to increase…drastically.

Mashable picked up the story and thusfar got 93 diggs