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More than half of travelers share vacation info on social media sites

July 13, 2010 | Online Travel

Travelocity’s most recent poll shows more than half of all travellers share vacation information through social media. Nearly 30 percent of travellers have either never thought about precautions or do not take any precautions when posting about vacation on social media websites.

With summer vacations in full swing, many travelers are looking forward to sharing the details of their trips with friends and family. In today’s world, the easiest way to share is through social media, but people should be conscious of when and what they share to avoid giving away too much information about when they’ll be away from home.

Nearly 30 percent of travelers have either never thought about precautions or do not take any precautions when posting about vacation on social media web sites. Twenty-seven percent post limited vacation information; the rest do not allow any vacation posts.

“It’s only natural to want to share your excitement about an upcoming trip on social media sites,” said Genevieve Shaw Brown, Travelocity’s senior editor. “But it’s probably safest to wait until you return to share the details of the trip.”

Travelocity’s tips for safe sharing on social media sites:

- Establish rules about how much you’ll share and make sure everyone in your household is on the same page.
- Never share details about dates you’ll be away or children who will be left home alone.
- Switch off the ‘add location to your tweets’ function if you’re tweeting from vacation.
- Deactivate Foursquare from your Twitter and Facebook accounts so it doesn’t update those sites when you check in.

Tips for sharing upon your return from vacation:

- Upon return – post away! Travel sites like IgoUgo.com make it very easy to share photos and reviews of your travels with the world.
- Upload your vacation videos to YouTube and post the link on Twitter or embed on Facebook so friends and family can watch.
- Use the geotag function on photo sharing sites like Flickr to show the world where you’ve been.

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