Summer is fast approaching and I already can’t wait to have some rest. Of course, the social media geek inside me made me get prepared for my upcoming vacation the web 2.0 way: by looking through available travel social media networks and seeing what they have to offer. So here are my personal picks:
Best Social Voting Site: BestTravelDeals
BestTravelDeals lets users share travel deals and vote for most useful of them.
Best City Page: Dopplr.com
Dopplr.com has a strong focus on city profiles. The information provided for each city is really helpful and to-the-point:
- Map;
- Places to stay;
- Places to eat;
- QA section for members to help each other.
Check out this page for example:
Best Profile Pages: Driftr.com
Driftr.com is a feature-rich travel community that is a pleasure to browse: everything seems to be where it belongs (not always SEO-friendly though but that’s not the point).
Profile pages are not overloaded with elements but look beautiful – what you’ll see there:
- the member’s traveling map (places he has been to, places he plans to visit, places he wants to go to);
- the person’s slideshow on each destination he visited;
- brief traveler’s stats (photos, places visited, reviews);
- person’s friends.
Best Social Features: TripSay
TripSay groups feature seems to be the bets way to unite various (virtual) travelers around common interest. Groups allows uses to:
- Exchange experience and opinions on one topic;
- Find travel buddies based in some common interest;
- Give members ideas on where else to go and what to visit.
Example: breath-taking places:
Most Active Forum: Thorn Tree
Thorn Tree spots very simplistic interface but overwhelming number of areas covered and posts added daily.
Apart from area-related forums, you can also find here general topics like “health”, biking, traveling with kids, etc.
Disclaimer: I understand, the features I listed above are objective, so the site reviews in this post only represent my personal opinion. Please list your favorites in the comments!
