Before the latest social media revolution, Jessica Gottlieb would have probably watched helplessly when her kids, Jane and Alexander, were trapped on the tarmac, waiting for their Virgin America flight to take off.
But that's so 2008. When it happened to her last week, the Los Angeles-based blogger reached for her iPhone and twittered about her troubles. "Dear Virgin Air," she wrote. "My children have been on the tarmac for one hour with 90 more minutes to wait. I am at JFK gate b25. Pls RT."
That last request -- please "RT" -- is shorthand for Gottlieb's nearly 10,000 followers to "retweet" her message, or rebroadcast it to their followers. And re-tweet they did. Within minutes, Virgin had phoned Gottlieb to reassure her that her kids would be fine.
"They contacted the gate agent manager and explained to us the entire weather situation," she says. "Within 20 minutes of that conversation, the plane took off."
The same forces that threaten to unravel a repressive Iranian regime are revolutionizing the way Americans travel. Social media sites that allow people to interact in the moment are changing how travel companies talk to their customers -- and how their customers talk back.
The net result? Travel could improve for everyone.
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Source - Chicago Tribune
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