Described as “an excellent example of how to go viral gracefully,” the meme originated with just one blog post back in November 2009. Five bloggers were invited to share their “Best Kept Travel Secrets” and “tag” another five bloggers to do the same.
The meme soon spread “like a dirty note in math class” with 100 blogs participating after just two months. The most “tag heavy” period was the beginning of December when 32 travel secrets posts were published in just one week. The “tag tree” ran 13 levels deep and the meme continued for six months with 33% of all “tagged” bloggers taking part.
Conquering un-chartered territory in Kyrgystan, eating live octopus in South Korea and booking airline tickets on a Wednesday morning are just a few of the travel secrets.
Tripbase decided to harness the momentum of the meme by compiling all 500 travel secrets into a series of travel eBooks for charity. The company is donating $1 to Charity: Water for every person who downloads a Travel Secrets eBook, helping to bring clean drinking water to people in developing nations.
The online buzz continues with over 10,000 eBooks downloaded and 65% of the three month donation target achieved in just two weeks. The online travel community is rallying behind the campaign with thousands of tweets about the project and new bloggers contributing more travel secrets every day. Consumers can download the entire series or any of the seven travel secrets eBooks on the Tripbase Web site: (http://www.tripbase.com/travelsecrets/download.do).
“It’s incredible how quickly a catchy concept can spread online” said Reuven Levitt, CEO of Tripbase. “We decided to exploit the popularity of the meme to make people’s travel passions serve a purpose beyond simply sharing recommendations online. And the idea seems to have struck a chord with passionate travelers keen to help a great cause.”
Further information on ways to support the project and how to become a Travel Secrets Author can be found here:
* Meme: a catchphrase or concept that spreads rapidly from person to person via the Internet.
Featured image credit (World Travel and Famous Locations): Ockra/iStock
