Sites are going places

The social networking trend has run rampant and one of the fastest-growing subgroups in that sphere is network sites catering to savvy travelers. They don’t include sites like Expedia, Farecast and Kayak, which mostly find tickets and hotels and help you order reservations online. Social travel sites strive to become communities, with people coming back often to view other members’ photos, blogs, reviews, rankings and summaries of interesting or noteworthy travel destinations.

The A-list for social travel sites includes: Dopplr, Matadortravel.com, iloho, Triptie, Tripadvisor.com and many others. They range broadly in focus. Dopplr (still in beta) lets travelers or companies list trips and then compare notes with friends or similar companies also planning trips.

Matador Travel, which launched last year, gives travelers a chance to scour its user lists and find “experts” on destinations. It also lets nonprofit groups create accounts and helps volunteers find overseas nonprofits looking to put them up in exchange for some work.

The growth spurt in travel sites creates plenty of Web choices when people need to find answers on where to go and how to save money.

The downside: Like other social network categories, travel sites are now rife with deceptively written rankings, bogus reviews and over-hyped narratives of services.

Take it from Ross Borden, the founder and CEO of Matador Travel, based in San Francisco. Like others trying to start a social networking business, Borden knows many travel sites let anyone post messages under unverified names and without any fact-checking system.

“You can tell because some posts on some sites are not subtle at all,” said Borden. He’s seen posts in which someone lists the cell phone number of some overseas car-rental service, mentioning how helpful that company was to that “traveler.”

“When traveling overseas, who would do that, and write down a phone number, all within the five to 10 minutes one takes to rent a car?” Borden asked.

Still, Borden understands the Web travel-site traffic rule: The more interesting or more varied a site’s user-generated reviews and blog comments are, the more it can attract regular visitors. As someone watching first-hand the social travel scene, Borden warns Web visitors to look long and hard before assuming they’re reading true traveler accounts on many sites.

Even so, Matador and numerous other sites have embraced the belief that travel experts really are people just like us, said Borden.

The one challenge Matador tries to solve, he added, is helping people find the experts who are most like us.

Starting in September, Matador began allowing members (who sign up for free) to create detailed summaries of their travels and personal interests. Borden said that helps other members find similarly minded travelers to seek out for advice.

If someone wants to visit Costa Rica and searches for other Matador members who’ve been there, it’s important, said Borden, to track down people who have the same interests. “Would I rather talk with someone who enjoyed beaches by the hotels, if what I really want is to go out and meet real people out in the rural areas?” Borden asked.

He refused to mention by name which travel sites seem most plagued by bogus comments or phony user reviews. The best rule, he said, is to look for balance and confirmation.

A review that gushes or totally trashes a place should raise doubts about the source’s accuracy, he said. But if you find three or four comments that line up and seem to agree, that’s usually a sign that you’re getting the straight scoop.

To avoid spam, Matador allows users to contact one another, but only through its own e-mail server. People who use the site to promote a business or to send spam are banned, said Borden.

One new Matador user, Emily Nuchols, grew up in Spokane and now lives in Seattle, where she works as communications manager for the nonprofit Save Our Wild Salmon.

She likes Matador’s new option of paying members who agree to write articles for the site.

“If I could, I would do nothing but travel and be a travel writer. I’d love to share the experiences I have overseas,” Nuchols said.