Sir Richard, Sir David, and Sir…

Got a spare £160,000? No? Then you better get saving. According to Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic, the space travel service for the masses (be it the very wealthy masses) could be on the cards as early as next year. In its second test flight, the SS2 Enterprise broke supersonic speeds and climbed to an impressive 69,000 feet. All this with close to zero carbon emissions – according to the billionaire owner of Virgin. So, if you’re keen to view the globe from a different perspective, we suggest you start popping that loose change in the piggy bank…

Earlier this week, Twitter announced that it will be introducing an alert system for emergencies and disasters with users being able to receive special notifications from government and aid agencies. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, Tokyo’s Disaster Prevention service and the World Health Organization are among those who have already signalled that they will participate. The alerts program starts a year after Twitter showcased its potential as a lifeline during Hurricane Sandy, when stranded residents on the eastern U.S. seaboard reported the storm’s progress and sought help on the mobile network.

This week saw Sir David Attenborough frustrated at the social media fakes, specifically those impersonating the legendary naturalist film-maker himself. Frustrated at the obscene, "horrible" and "rude" fakes, Sir David has taken legal action to get the phoney Facebook and Twitter accounts taken down. Baffled as to the reason why anyone would want to impersonate others on social media, he has confirmed that he does not, and has no plans to, have any social media presence.

We all know that airports can be a stressful place, so it won’t come as a surprise that this week Heathrow had issues with its baggage system causing long delays in baggage collection. Luckily Heathrow used Twitter to help prevent the situation escalating with regular tweets updating passengers on the situation. Hats off to Heathrow as there is nothing worse than not knowing what is causing the hold up.

In a study announced this week it was reported that luxury travellers are actively looking for those ‘Instagram-able’ moments when choosing destinations, hotels and trip experiences highlighting the importance that travel providers promote these photo-worthy moments. The new report from Brand Karma and International Luxury Travel revealed that travellers from emerging economies rely on social networks like Facebook and Instagram for hotel reviews. With consumers in this market spending seven to 10 hours a month on social media this reaffirms the importance of an online, engaging presence.

And finally it’s been a busy week in the world of digital with a jam packed schedule of talks, presentations and panel discussions for this year’s Social Media Week London. The week-long conference explores all the latest trends and developments in the social media sector. Visitors have the chance to hear from industry leaders on the hottest social media topics. The Siren Communications team have been busy darting around London, attending sessions on video production, customer service and brand reputation. We’ll have more information in our round up blog next week.