celebrating the online power of the world travel influencers
shaping the social media world Photo: Mike Coots
www.theinfluencersmagazine.com
Celebrating the online power of world’s leading travel influence
The World Influencer Awards and the World Social Media Awards are the first awards programmes to fully recognise the unique position that travel influencers now hold in the travel industry. Combining exciting images and a unique perspective, these influencers now speak to a global audience of millions, following them on their journeys to the world’s most exciting destinations and the world’s most desirable properties and locations.
Inside these pages discover our Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze nominees and uncover a new world of online travel reportage.
f the ers
influencers M AGAZINE Publisher Kevin Rolfe
Features Editor Claudia Sermbezis
Editor Siddharth Thaker
Photography Mark Hakansson Ben Roberts Anjjelo San Buenaventura
Designers Mike Gibas Mark Askam Editorial Team Ana Strack Christopher O’Toole Rebecca Cohen Phil Blizzard
Production Team Nadeem George Denis Halilaj Tracy Rolfe Ella Smith Online George Cooke
Influencers Magazine is published by The Influencers Magazine Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6BD, United Kingdom T: +44 (0) 20 7925 0000 M: +44 (0) 7792965550 E: sid.thaker@worldig.com www.theinfluencersmagazine.com The use of our Website and Digital Magazine are all subject to the following: All rights reserved. No part of Influencers Magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from The Influencers Magazine. Whilst every effort has been made to check the information contained in this issue of Influencers Magazine, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of Influencers Magazine. Unless otherwise stated, the copyright of the individual contribution is that of the contributors. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of images. We apologise in advance for any unintentional omissions and would be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgment in any subsequent publication. Photo: Nataly Osmann
© 2021 The Influencers Magazine
See the figures updated daily and live links to the big social media influencers, e.g. Richard Branson:
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Visit worldinfluencers.social
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Search for an influencer
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See the influencer’s social media engagement across all networks and their overall total and ranking globally!
Click the specific links to take you direct to each of the influencer’s social networks
Explore the biggest celebrity influencers on social media http://worldinfluencers.social
our new features editor
Introducing our new Features Editor, Claudia Sermbezis We are very pleased to announce a new member to our Influencers Magazine team: the award-winning journalist, writer and actress Claudia Sermbezis. Here are some bits of trivia about her: she played Lema Eelyak in the biggest grossing movie of all time, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and was once the UK’s youngest ever national news reader. She’s written for Travel Africa magazine and was resident travel writer for Namibia Tours & Safaris before coronavirus struck the industry. Passionate about conservation, she has produced and presented
wildlife programmes for the BBC and been nominated for a Royal Television Society award. She began her news career on the UK’s GMTV and spent more than a decade reporting on screen for BBC News. Acting highlights include Extras with Ricky Gervais, playing Doctor Who’s assistant opposite David Tennant, and working with Vanessa Redgrave in the West End. Claudia also spent several months as a guest artist at Dramaten, the Royal National Theatre of Sweden and in 2012 danced in the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games in London.
www.instagram.com/loudlazylion
influencers MAGAZINE
14 OCTOBER 2021
ARMANI HOTEL DUBAI, UAE www.travelinfluencers.social
social media awards
Presenting the WORLD TRAVEL INFLUENCERS AWARDS 14 October 2021 The World Travel Influencers Awards The World Travel Influencers Awards celebrate the very best Travel Social Media Contributors and reward the Influencers, Companies and Organisations that are using online platforms to communicate in fresh and innovative ways, engaging with their audience. The Awards are open to all corporate, creative, design, digital, marketing, advertising, media and public relation organisations based globally.
The Event The event will take place on 14th October 2021 at Armani Hotel, Dubai. The event is the perfect opportunity to network and celebrate your achievements amongst your peers, friends and colleagues in the industry. A chance to meet the top 120 of the World's Most Famous Travel Influencers under one roof. This not to be missed event will begin with a Cocktail Reception, a Gala Dinner and Ceremony followed by a “Meet The Influencers” After Party.
ARMANI HOTEL
CELEBRATING THE VERY BEST TRAVEL MEDIA CONTRIBUTORS AND REWARDING THE INFLUENCERS, COMPANIES AND ORGANISATIONS USING ONLINE PLATFORMS TO COMMUNICATE IN FRESH AND INNOVATIVE WAYS.
influencers MAGAZINE
social media awards XENIA TCHOUMITCHEVA
Voting Process The Awards will celebrate exceptional Travel Influencers in many categories. The final nominees shortlist is determined by our advisory board, creative and consistent content, engagement and growth rates. Winners are then crowned as examples of excellence in their respective categories at the Ceremony.
MIKE COOTS
Categories World's Leading Travel Influencer
World's Leading Travel YouTuber
World's Leading Landscape Travel Photographer
World's Leading Pilot
World's Leading Fashion Travel Influencer
World's Leading Travel Blog
World's Leading Luxury Travel Influencer
World's Leading Travel Trendsetter
World's Leading Wildlife Travel Storyteller
World's Leading Emerging Travel Influencer
World's Leading Ocean Travel Storyteller
World's Leading Travel Instagrammer
World's Leading Arctic Travel Storyteller
World's Leading Travel Videographer
World's Leading Travel Couple
World's Leading Golf Travel Influencer
World's Leading Travel Page
World's Leading Safari Travel Influencer
World's Leading Fitness Travel Influencer
World's Leading Ski Travel Influencer
World's Leading City Travel Influencer
World's Leading Island Travel Influencer
World's Leading Food Travel Influencer
and many more..."
influencers MAGAZINE
social media awards WONDERFUL PLACES
Importance of Social Media Influencers in the Travel Industry? “The power of social networking is such that the number of worldwide users is expected to reach some 4+ billion monthly active Social Media users by 2021, around a third of Earth’s entire population.” Statistica.com • Consumers are excited to hear about product recommendations from social influencers. • There’s an emotional connection and an element of authenticity that cannot be replicated by traditional forms of advertising. • It’s an effective way to increase brand awareness by capitalizing on the influencer’s reach without having direct involvement in a product’s promotion. • Products and brands are endorsed by a trusted source on social media platforms— where 71 percent of consumers research before making purchasing decisions. • Influencer marketing can be likened to ‘wordof-mouth’ marketing—a powerful endorsement from a trusted source that is likely to induce customers into making a purchase. • Out of 86% marketers who used influencer marketing in 2019, 92% of them found it useful. • To make the most out of digital channels, 44% marketers are planning to use influencer content. • 36% of ecommerce marketers are planning to use influencer content in 2020 to increase their product sales.
influencers MAGAZINE
social media awards SAM KOLDER
Host Venue: Armani Hotel, Dubai Nestled in the world’s tallest tower, occupying concourse level through to level 8 and levels 38 and 39, Armani Hotel Dubai offers sweeping views across the city and Arabian Gulf. With its own dedicated entrance, it is situated within walking distance of The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest retail destination, set within the vibrant Downtown Dubai business and leisure district. Armani Hotels & Resorts brings together the impeccable taste of Giorgio Armani and the developmental expertise of Emaar Hotels & Resorts. The Emaar – Giorgio Armani partnership is truly global in nature. Emaar, one of the world’s leading integrated lifestyle developers, and Giorgio Armani, one of the world’s leading fashion icons, together create a brand and a product that is unsurpassed in innovative design, style, form, and function. www.armanihoteldubai.com
MARIE FE & JAKE SNOW
TRAVEL AWESOME
influencers MAGAZINE
influencer marketing
TikTok, TikTok the sound of the influencer marketing clock.
It’s predicted to be a $15 billion dollar industry by 2022 and boy, are we up for it.
of my cooperation partners, as they’re also coping with the consequences of the pandemic.”
Posts, reels, podcasts, we want more, more, more.
But, if there’s one thing influencers do well, it’s turning. Pivoting. Adapting.
But, it’s a tricky business when travel’s your brand and travel’s banned. Covid’s blown a hurricane of chaos around the world, decimating families, upending businesses and leaving us all staring at the arid tumbleweed of a very different landscape. Ben Limburg @flying.limburg told us, “I didn’t fly for around six months due to all the restrictions, local lockdowns and people staying at home. My followers are interested in aviation content, but I was mostly at home so I couldn’t deliver. That had a huge impact on my follower count and also my engagement rate. Plus, I lost most
And Ben’s confident his normality will resume soon. As is Keith Herman. In fact, he’s positively depending on it, having started a business in the middle of 2020 which relies on influencers travelling. You see them on holiday, like it, book it. “Travel companies were dabbling with influencer marketing but nobody was specialising in it, and nobody was piggy backing them as the new route to market. Trending Travels seemed like a great idea in November 2019 but by March 2020, we’d grounded to a halt,” Keith told us.
Undeterred and basically fed up with not launching, they went for it in June 2020 and attracted 500 Instagram followers. Now they have 169K. Nico Norena the founder of @succulentbite is also upbeat telling us, “It is unquestionable that the COVID pandemic has unfortunately posed new challenges and difficulties in all industries across the globe. However, if we focus on influencer marketing and marketing overall, I think we can identify continued growth and new opportunities. With the unforeseen circumstances, businesses were forced to quickly shift their strategies and adapt to digital means, such as e-commerce as well as digital marketing. Because of this, I think now more than ever influencer marketing is becoming more relevant and important. With
“POSTS, REELS, PODCASTS, WE WANT MORE, MORE, MORE.”
BEN LIMBURG @FLYING.LIMBURG
niche oriented audiences, influencers can reach specific demographics which is a key asset for brands looking to advertise. We see new companies dedicated to connecting influencers with brands, as well as agencies including this into their portfolio of services.” And he’s right. Influencer marketing was one of the defining phenomenons of 2020. With the world stuck at home social media became a happy distraction and went, well, viral. Particularly live videos. We’re consuming them like never before with media analysts Nielsen recording a 60% increase in the amount of video content watched globally. And, as demand increases, supply or rather influencers step up and record more and more. Short format, easyto-watch, creative videos, to be poured over, devoured and shared. Facebook and YouTube are buzzing
as is Instagram and Reels which launched in August 2020. TikTok’s become the preferred platform for nearly a third of influencer marketing campaigns and new players like Triller & Moj are coming through too. We can’t get enough. We want authenticity, we want to connect, we need to feel that warm, human contact after so much isolation. Influencers fit the bill; we feel as if we know them, we like them, we’re with them, they laugh, they cry, they’re intimate with us and often their very existence is just like a mate’s happy accident. An account started as a travel blog for friends and family somehow stumbles into the wider social media world. Their photos, videos and words suddenly pour across the screens of thousands, millions of strangers. Followers. Us. And all this creates a space for smart product integrations - and brands know it.
Because in reality we’re still just consumers and brands want us back. After all, we were once theirs, weren’t we? Spoon fed infants with no choice of menu. Adverts in magazines, commercials on TV, pop up products shoved under our noses. But we’ve moved on. We leaf past the ads, ignore the commercials and block the pop ups, they’re annoying. Today, more than ever, we’re hungry for the real deal and we’ve shut the door on great swathes of traditional marketing techniques. But influencer’s influencing us? We’re inadvertently lapping it up and more importantly, we’re buying it. And we don’t just gravitate to those with the most followers either. Another trend that is set to grow massively in 2021 is the Micro & Nano influencers. Brands are especially hungry for their high engagement, authenticity, and
influencers MAGAZINE
influencer marketing
low-costs. Particularly appealing after Covid slashed many an advertising budget. As Keith Herman explains, “We have to structure adverts, structure marketing. We have to make sure their Instagram and Facebook algorithms work in our favour. We’re not just after Love Island fans and millennials, we want to reach other smaller influencers too. I’m in my 50s, I have an Instagram account, as do friends and family in their 30s, 40s. Shirley Ballas’s a good example, she’s a judge on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing with 186K on Instagram. It’s not a vast number in marketing terms but her demographic is perfect for us.” The niche; Mega, Macro, Micro, Nano. But influencer marketing is by no means plain sailing. For a start, how do travel brands navigate these Covid waters? After all, it’s tricky when you engage an influencer only to be accused of being tone deaf.
In January 2021 a British Love Island star and influencer was fined for Covid breaches in Barbados; Air Canada partnered with an influencer promoting “a safe and cautious way of travelling for 2021” but got accused of seemingly encouraging people to travel in spite of federal guidelines; and the Celtic football team were criticised by the Scottish government for training in Dubai. All eyes are on influencers, and people seem keen to call out anything they’re not happy with. And that includes your brand if you’ve tagged along for the ride. Keith Herman again, “Right at this moment influencers need to be careful or they’ll lose their popularity. Those seemingly flouting lockdown are not flavour of the month by any stretch of the imagination, but a week’s a long time in politics. We’ve made it clear, whilst the UK is in lockdown, you can’t travel, you can’t post. We’ve had to say, please don’t because it’s
insensitive. Some influencers are naive, some don’t care, some have had the wrong advice given to them.” So firms must be flexible, influencer marketing is gold dust if you get it right, sawdust if you get it wrong. Now, more than ever, we want to follow people who stand for something, who are vocal and who shout about causes they believe in. It’s a lot to live up to and the whole world’s watching. Everything. And listening too. Intently. Video might have boomed in 2020 but there’s a new wave coming. A new sound, a new voice, a new podcast. And even as you read this, there’s a brand and an influencer somewhere in the world recording just the right dose of dreams to whisper in our ears. This isn’t hearsay. There’s a fresh new audio revolution right there on the horizon. So 2021? Listen up.
NICO NORENA @SUCCULENTBITE
“INFLUENCER MARKETING IS GOLD DUST IF YOU GET IT RIGHT, SAWDUST IF YOU GET IT WRONG.”
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@flying.limburg Here, Influencers Magazine catches up with Pilot Ben Limburg to pose twenty questions.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? In general? It’s gonna be my phone I guess, as I use it everyday.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? That would be the Maldives.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? 1. Did you travel in 2020? No, I decided to cancel all of my planned vacation. We just went to Kitzbühel in Austria for three days but we had to leave earlier than planned.
2. Where were you in lockdown? At home in Munich, Germany.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? Best trip was to Las Vegas so far. We just finished our initial flight training in Phoenix and decided to rent a Ford Mustang Convertible to drive to Vegas for my birthday.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most?
I’d love to visit Vienna again, I’ve lived there for two and a half years and began my pilot career over there.
I absolutely love schnitzel and the best one comes from Munich or Vienna.
10. Window or aisle seat?
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Definitely plane!
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? Usually my bag is packed already, as I never know when my flight roster is changing, but I don’t leave without swimming trunks.
I always choose the window seat!
11. Where did you grow up? In a small town next to Munich in Germany.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? Pretty cool. We spent most of our holidays in our finca in Mallorca but we got to see some other cool places too
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? Well I didn’t have Instagram for a long long time, but my friends convinced me to create an account. I didn’t plan to become an Influencer, I basically wanted to share what I love – flying.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? Flying with the Breitling Jet Team in Dijon, France.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? I don’t have a favourite pic I guess, but I definitely prefer the ones in the plane or with a plane in the background.
16. What’s on your playlist? I basically love simple songs with a nice voice and some good guitar playing.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? Haven’t had one yet, fortunately.
18. What place is top of your bucket list? That’s going to be Hawaii.
19. What has 2020 taught you? To appreciate the little things..
20. Where will you go in 2021? Far far away!
influencers MAGAZINE
14th October - 14th November 2021
Dubai, United Arab Emirates www.worldsocialmediafestival.com
social media events
WORLD SOCIAL MEDIA FESTIVAL 14 Oct - 14 Nov 2021 Dubai, UAE
AN ANNUAL REDCARPET EVENT WITHOUT COMPARE, SEEN AS ONE OF THE MOST COVETED INVITATIONS ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA CALENDAR.
The World Social Media Festival is an annual red-carpet event without compare, seen as one of the most coveted invitations on the Social Media calendar. It is where the World's Greatest Brands, Influencers, Social Media Platforms and Contributors get together at prestigious venues to forge relationships and celebrate their achievements in this groundbreaking industry. The World Social Media Festival recognises and celebrates Social Media Contributors in a multitude of categories, which showcase exceptional creativity,
innovation and execution. The event is the perfect chance to toast to the industry's finest achievements, whilst providing an evening of networking and celebration. Eminence, splendour and elegance set the scene for a spectacular festival, with prestigious venues setting the backdrop for its events. The 2021 Awards Ceremony promises to be a spectacular occasion, with the lineup including world-class entertainment, finest cuisines, and a star-studded guest list.
influencers MAGAZINE
social media events WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE FESTIVAL MEET THE WORLD'S MOST ILLUSTRIOUS INFLUENCERS The world's most influential Social Media Stars will reign supreme at the dazzling World Social Media Festival. A PANOPLY OF FESTIVAL THEMES There is something for everyone. During the festival, venues will be hosting themed mini-festivals from lifestyle to travel to restaurants to entertainment. DISCOVER THE AMAZING VENUES FROM THE UAE The UAE has some of the most prestigious establishments. Many exclusive venues will host the festival, drawing notable names, respected luminaries and key decision-makers in the industry together. SHOP TILL YOU DROP Explore the shopping festival and enjoy the best retail experiences. TRY SOME OF THE FINEST CUISINES FROM AWARD-WINNING CHEFS When it comes to food, UAE cuisine is almost too exotic to imagine. Enjoy the true range and diversity of the international restaurant scene. CROWNING THE WORLD'S BEST SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS The best Social Media Contributors make the grade, as top influencers and brands from across various continents, countries and categories compete for the ultimate accolade in overall excellence.
THEMES The World Social Media Festival will be taking over many venues in Dubai during 14th October - 14th November 2021. The venue partners have been carefully selected and paired with the social media themes for the festival. The public will be able to access all venues with a single ticket. Aquarium Art Automobiles Bollywood Business Children Entertainment Communications Dance Desert & Safari Expo Financial Geography Golf History Hospitality Ice Skating Lifestyle Luxury Goods Luxury Lifestyle Museums Music News Opera Photography Premium Property Radio Restaurants & Cuisine Royal Sculpture Shopping Spa Sports Technology Theme Parks Yachting
influencers MAGAZINE
social media events
VENUES IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES The Emirati hospitality is famed worldwide. We are delighted to bring The World Social Media Festival's first edition to the beautiful region of UAE. The UAE has been described as the jewel in the desert, the ever-rising icon of the Middle East, with its gleaming skyscrapers, impressive architecture, culture, history and a myriad of attractions and food experiences, the city lures visitors from all around the globe.
Royal Atlantis Mandarin Oriental One & Only Palm Mall of the Emirates Four Seasons Resort Dubai Dubai Mall Area 2071 Al Habtoor City Atlantis Aquaventure Waterpark The Ritz Carlton DIFC Fairmont Dubai Park Hyatt Dubai Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club
Burj Al Arab Atlantis The Palm, Dubai Mandarin Oriental Jumeirah Dubai Madinat Jumeirah Museum of the Future Queen Elizabeth 2 - Dubai Port Armani Hotel Dubai Address Hotel Dubai Mall Address Downtown Address Palace Downtown The Address Fountain Views Address Boulevard Address Sky View
influencers MAGAZINE
social media events ABOUT US The World Social Media Festival is an annual redcarpet event without compare, seen as one of the most coveted invitations on the Social Media calendar. It is where the World's Greatest Brands, Influencers, Social Media Platforms and Contributors get together at prestigious venues to forge relationships and celebrate their achievements in this groundbreaking industry. The World Social Media Festival recognises and celebrates Social Media Contributors in a multitude of categories, which showcase exceptional creativity, innovation and execution. The event is the perfect chance to toast to the industry's finest achievements, whilst providing an evening of networking and celebration. Eminence, splendour and elegance set the scene for a spectacular festival, with prestigious hotel venues setting the backdrop for its events.
World Social Media Festival, A Golden Stamp of Excellence Epitomized acclamation will set the tone for the World Social Media Festival as it recognises the world's leading Social Media influencers, who are continuously striving for excellence and setting the standard in the industry. The world's most brilliant contributors will be lauded at the prestigious event, and thereby inspired to reach even greater heights. www.worldsocialmediafestival.com
influencers MAGAZINE
ArmAni Hotel DubAi Armani Hotels & Resorts brings together the impeccable taste of Giorgio Armani and the developmental expertise of Emaar Properties. The Emaar-Giorgio Armani partnership is truly global in nature. Emaar, one of the world’s leading integrated lifestyle developers, and Giorgio Armani, one of the world’s leading fashion icons, together create a brand and a product that is unsurpassed in innovative design, style, form and function. https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=NjHX5FsStua
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STARS
Social Media Stars The latest on the social media stars that are changing this sector, the platforms and the posts... The latest stories on the social media stars that rock this sector, the platforms and the posts...Our aim is to deliver content that is shaping the future of social media, platforms, engagement and the stars of social media. Featuring the breaking celebrity news, and now videos available too.
Find us on: facebook.com/socialmediastars365/ socialmedia.socialtv.tube/ influencers.socialtv.tube/
twenty questions
@jonathan_irish Influencers Magazine interviews Jonathan Irish about his life as an Influencer.
1. Did you travel in 2020? I was in Kenya in February and returned just as we starting learning about the upcoming pandemic.
2. Where were you in lockdown? At our home in Golden, Colorado with a new puppy and lots of hiking trails in my backyard. It was a fantastic place to be sequestered.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? Antarctica remains my favourite destination as there is no place like it on Earth. Truly magical. I’ve been there six times on different assignments and I still can’t wait to return.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? Pizza!
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag?
12. What were your holidays like as a child?
Camera, lenses, batteries, and a change of clothes. In fact, my camera bag is always packed and ready, so I could be ready in under five minutes.
My parents travelled a lot, and always took my brother and I with them. So I grew up experiencing lots of great adventures...it’s in my blood.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? A great camera bag is essential, but my camera remains my most useful item.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? Antarctica! Or Africa.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? Paris or Rome.
10. Window or aisle seat?
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile?
Always window, never aisle.
My two favourites are bike and kayak.
Philadelphia.
11. Where did you grow up?
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I never intended to become an influencer, I simply love sharing my passion with others.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? Posting on the National Geographic Travel account has been a dream come true.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? Seeing and photographing the Neowise comet was a once in a lifetime experience.
16. What’s on your playlist? A little bit of everything.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
18. What places are top of your bucket list?
I’ve had lots of close encounters, but being robbed in Nairobi when I first travelled to Africa was one of the worst.
Antarctica! And Western Africa.
19. What has 2020 taught you? To be thankful and humble. It’s been
a tough year, but I am hopeful for the future.
20. Where will you go in 2021? I have plans to go to Botswana and back to Kenya, but that is vaccine dependent.
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@marinacomes Here Influencers Magazine catches up with Marina Comes to ask twenty questions.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why?
1. Did you travel in 2020? Yes! Internationally I’ve travelled to Turkey, Japan, Tunisia and Maldives. Inside Spain, I’ve travelled to Mallorca, Menorca, Catalonia, Asturias, Navarra, Alicante, Málaga, Guadalajara and Madrid. It’s been the perfect year to explore more of my country, Spain, which really offers a huge diversity of destinations.
2. Where were you in lockdown? In our new home, Madrid. We moved there a few months before the pandemic.
My first time in Morocco was epic. I went there with my sister and everybody told us it was a bad decision to go there on our own, two girls in a Muslim country, etc. (the usual prejudices of our society coming from people who’d never been there). But the trip turned out to be amazing from beginning to end, especially as it was the opposite of what we were told it would be. All the Moroccans we met were so welcoming and nice to us! We realized that we are all more similar than we believe. We share the same dreams, fears and emotions, no matter what our language or religion. That first time in Morocco really touched me, and I’ve been back 7 times as it’s a special place for me.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? Mediterranean food is my core diet, so I really miss it when I’m away. It’s my favourite food but of course I also enjoy trying other cuisines.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Road trips are my favourite! There’s nothing like hitting the road with a
good playlist and no rush. Enjoying the landscape, stopping to take photos.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? Camera equipment and chargers, sneakers, long summer dresses, a hat, a swimsuit, and basic makeup. But the truth is I usually overpack.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? My several iPhones. They’ve been with me 24/7 for years and they’ve helped me build my Instagram account.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? I would go where I actually went for my own honeymoon: Namibia, Botswana and Maldives. Best trip ever!
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? Cape Town, if I could. I love that city and the landscape around it.
10. Window or aisle seat? Always window.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 11. Where did you grow up? In Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? Road trips with my parents, and beach life in our neighborhood. We went to the beach every single day in summer and we loved skiing in winter. I have good memories of those years.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I never intended to become an influencer. It wasn’t even a ‘thing’ at that moment. I started posting because I had millions of photos of all my past trips and a friend recommended me to start sharing them on Instagram. So I did... and here I am!
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? My biggest highlight is making travelling and photography a lifestyle. But on a more specific note, being featured on Forbes as one of the best travel influencers was a big moment for me, I’m not going to lie.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? One taken last summer in ‘L’Ametlla de Mar’, a Mediterranean village very close to my hometown (Tarragona). It reminds of something I always say: you don’t need to travel far to find beautiful places. This village has some of the best beaches in
Catalonia, and it is not so popular amongst tourists. A true hidden gem.
16. What’s on your playlist? My playlists are very inclusive, you can find very different types of artists and music styles. But you’ll always find Coldplay, Lana del Rey, Taylor Swift and U2.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? In Thailand, on a boat transfer to Phuket at night. We hired a long tail boat to take us to the airport and we were caught by a storm that got us lost for 45 minutes. We finally reached the shore but it was the first time I thought I wouldn’t make it.
18. What places are top of your bucket list?
Iceland.
19. What has 2020 taught you? I know it may sound kind of ‘cliché’ but it has shown me what is important in life. It’s been a great way to reorganize my priorities and values, and to focus on the present. The learnings of this experience will always be with us, that’s for sure. I’ll never take anything, anyone or anywhere for granted.
20. Where will you go in 2021? Hopefully I’ll go on a road trip around Utah and Arizona that was supposed to happen in 2020. Chile and Argentina are also on my mind. But to be honest, almost all destinations in the world are on my mind! I’ll just go with the flow and embrace any trip that crosses my path.
Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and
influencers MAGAZINE
2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
World Travel Influencers
Diamond Category 2 million followers or more
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers diamond category
Alex Strohl @alexstrohl
Alex Strohl is a Madrid born, French photographer whose work is characterized by his extraordinary travels. Instead of creating contrived scenes, Strohl creates authentic moments and captures them as they unfold before him—continually blurring the lines between work and life.
Learn more about Alex in these audio interviews: "Having A Message In Photography" by Tinker Street* Podcast; "Focus On Your Inner Story" by Your Creative Push: "A Path To Creative Freedom" by Prologue Profiles
Strohl's photography has been featured in prestigious publications such as Forbes, Vanity Fair, and Gentleman's Journal; his client lists includes dozens of household names. He is based in Whitefish, Montana—but spends the vast majority of his time on the road with his life partner Andrea Dabene; they often journey to the most remote reaches of the world. 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
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Anyuta Rai @anyuta_rai
Anyuta Rai is a Russian model, travel blogger, and fitness influencer. She’s garnered the support of countless fans online, who’ve been following Anyuta ever since she began posting her content online. Anyuta’s modeling career began at the age of 18, after she was discovered in a shopping mall in her hometown. It was at this point, Anyuta began making a name for herself by doing photo shoots with well-known photographers in her area.
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The success kept on coming, as Anyuta inspired more and more people with her awesome photos – here are some of them: Mixing Cardio and Weightlifting Anyuta Rai works out three to five times per week, ensuring she stays in an awesome shape for her photo shoots. Working Out Anytime, Anywhere Because she travels often, Anyuta doesn’t always have an access to the gym. However, this doesn’t stop her from getting a solid workout in.
Throughout the years, Anyuta expanded her career in multiple directions. She became a model, fitness and lifestyle blogger, and social media influencer famous for her toned figure.
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Beaches n Resorts @beaches_n_resorts
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Beautiful Destinations @beautifuldestinations
We passionately believe that travel is a force for good. It is an antidote to racism, bigotry, and inequality, and allows us to create meaningful, engaging stories that inspire people to open their minds and make a positive impact on the world. We create the world’s most inspiring travel content, using elevated storytelling to reveal what lies at the heart of a destination, its culture, and its people. We encourage our audiences to explore, to respect, and to inspire positivity whenever and wherever they travel.
state, and city levels, as well as some of the world’s top hotel and airline brands, have turned to us to for strategy and content creation. We drive economic development through tourism, with campaigns that bring our partners more visitors, more revenue, and more exposure. We’ve built the world’s largest tourism community on social media. Over 20 million people in 180 countries turn to us daily on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, and Weibo to be inspired by travel and tourism, and to learn more about our partners.
We know how today’s tourist thinks, which is why leading tourism boards at the country, 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
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Best Vacations @bestvacations
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Camila Coelho @camilacoelho
Camila Coelho is a Portuguese diva. She is a blogger known for her MakeUpByCamila YouTube channel and self-titled blog. Camila was born and raised in Virginopolis, Brazil and has three brothers.
Camila also boasts more than 5 million followers on Instagram and very nearly 260,000 on Twitter. She has also been featured in high-profile magazines such as Forbes Brasil, InStyle Brazil and Women's Health Brasil, where she appeared on the cover.
Camila began posting tips in Portuguese on her YouTube channel back in June 2010. This soon became such a success that in September 2011 she made an English language version. Camila has more than 2.8 million supporters on her Portuguese YouTube channel and very nearly 1 million on her English version.
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Caroline Daur @carodaur
Hamburg-based digital talent and entrepreneur Caro Daur is the writer of a high fashion and beauty blog that features fashion photos, new trends and inspirations around fashion and beauty. Caroline Daur is from a tiny village near Hamburg in Germany. “ I remember back in the days when I was a kid after finishing my homework, I would be head deep in my mom’s wardrobe playing dress up. This habit has never stopped, leading to the start of my blog 3 years ago. At the moment I am constantly on the run. I travel around the world and engage in many great opportunities in the fashion 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
world. I am incredibly grateful to have been working with brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Dior, Valentino, Off-White, Adidas, Roger Vivier, Cartier, Levis, to name a few. “My pictures allow me to tell an ongoing story of my personality and style. My style philosophy is having fun and being confident in my clothes. I always say I am a “chameleon”. Sometimes I like to dress like a princess and another day I feel more a super androgyn vibe. I like to create casual high fashion looks that you can wear everyday and offer style inspirations to my community.”
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Clark Little @clarklittle
Award-winning photographer Clark Little was born in Napa, California in 1968. Two years later, a move to the North Shore of Oahu (Hawaii) dramatically changed his future. In the 80’s and 90’s he made his name as a pioneer of surfing at the Waimea Bay shorebreak. Clark had a unique talent for taking off on hopeless closeout shorebreak waves and surviving in one piece. In 2007, Clark discovered his ability and passion to capture the extraordinary beauty of the shorebreak when his wife wanted a picture of the ocean to decorate the bedroom wall. With the confidence of an experienced surfer, Clark went out and bought a waterproof camera setup, 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
jumped in the ocean, and started snapping away, recording the beauty and power of Hawaiian waves. "Clark’s view" is a unique and often dangerous perspective of waves from the inside out, captured in photos for all to enjoy from the safety of dry land. In a short time, Clark has gained worldwide recognition for his North Shore shorebreak wave photography with exhibitions in Japan, Canada, Brazil, Spain and throughout the US along with appearances on television shows including CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Inside Edition, Discovery Channel, ABC World News Now, France 2, NHK and Asahi TV programs in Japan.
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Discover Earth @discoverearth
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Earth Focus @earthfocus
James lloyd Cole - Traveller, urban planner, photographer, designer, bartender, basketball enthusiast, and part-time Canadian.
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James has been developing his passion for photography, design and film for years, and finds his best work comes from combining it with his other interests: travel, landscapes and architecture.
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Earth Official @earthofficial
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Jack Morris @doyoutravel
Morris, the face of the travel blog Do You Travel, recently hosted a Q&A where he gave his 2 million Instagram followers travel and money tips and answered their burning questions about his beautiful Australian girlfriend and how they turned everyone's dream life into a reality. In the post, he reveals he didn't go to college, cleaned carpets for a living, lived out of a backpack for four years, and got a house with Bullen in Bali last October after meeting her in March.
million Instagram followers and also has a blog of her own. “On our last night in Fiji I asked her to come to Bali with me, she said yes and we've been together ever since!’ The pair has since traveled to more than 20 countries, and recently celebrated their one year anniversary with some PDA under a turquoise waterfall.
“We met in March 2016 whilst on a job together in Fiji. We got on so well from day one and were inseperable throughout the whole trip,” Morris writes of Bullen, who goes by @gypsea_lust to her 1.2 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
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Jasmine Sanders @golden_barbie
Jasmine Sanders better known as Golden Barbie is a successful model, actor, and Instagran Star. She became a known face because of her endorsements for top brands and her movies like ‘School Dance’, ‘Smooth Talking Sexy Hair’! and ‘Glosses’. She is a sensation on Instagram with over 2.7 million followers and is being followed by 113K people on Twitter. Her Vine videos have also gone viral. The ‘School Dance’ fame girl was dubbed as British make-up artist Pat McGrath’s muse, which made her feel honoured and humbled. She looks up to supermodel Tyra Banks and wants to be like her. The modelactor’s net worth is supposed to be around $1.5 million. Jasmine came up with her handle name 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
Golden Barbie by combining her childhood nicknames of Goldilocks and Barbie. Her teacher used to call her Goldilocks because of her curly hair. Her friends too told her that she was like a life-sized Barbie. When it comes to photographs, the model tries to keep them ‘as honest as possible’ and personally likes to avoid filters on Instagram. But if she had to choose, she prefers Crema or Aden. Rosewater spray and makeup removing wipes are a must have for her. Jasmine is a good friend of American reality television personality, Kim Kardashian and her younger sister Kylie Jenner.
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Jay Alvarrez @jayalvarrez
Jay Alvarrez was born on July 5, 1995, in Ohau, Hawaii, United States. Jay had a deep interest in photography from an early age. His curiosity gained wings when he became infatuated with a girl in his school named Amber. Together they decided to drop out of school and make some money using their talents and creativity. Jay had a very hard upbringing as he has no money. He took every chance he got to work and did several jobs. He finally made enough money to be able to indulge his desire to travel. During that time social media was rising, so Jay decided to use this medium to connect with the people and share his photos and 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
videos of him travelling to different places around the world. He shared his exhilarating experiences of significant sports like skydiving on social media pages. Although Jay is now recognized as a model and internet celebrity, he paved his way with photography and is still a talented photographer. And in his extreme and exotic vacation he uses this talent to capture the moment and earn from them.
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Jen Selter @jenselter
Jen Selter is an American internet celebrity and fitness model. She’s known for her fit and curvy looks, especially her abs and glutes. Starting her fitness journey around the age of 15, Jen gradually built an awesome figure over the years. One day, she decided to post progress pictures on her social media profiles. The pictures quickly went viral, and Jen’s online recognition ‘skyrocketed.‘
Jen’s physique is the result of her own hard work, she says she never had a personal trainer. The way Jen learnt was by looking at other experienced lifters and trainers in the gym; trying to replicate their routines. As time went by, Jen learned what worked for her, and what didn’t. She eventually adopted her own routine which gave her the best results for fat loss and building muscle.
Ever since then, Jen has become a true icon in the world of fitness and modeling.
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Jennifer Tuffen @izkiz
I’m Jennifer, otherwise known as izkiz, the instagrammer, travel photographer and content creator from the UK. Although I was born in England, I grew up in a town just outside of Amsterdam in Holland and I now split my time between the UK, the Netherlands and a seaside resort on the Aegean coast of Turkey. I started this blog last year along side my Instagram account. It’s my little corner of the internet where I can show you behind the scenes of the photos I post on Instagram, write reviews about the hotels I’ve stayed in, talk about the products I’m loving and post some of the zillions of photos I take on a daily basis. 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
I’m a real girly girl that loves all things pink, dresses, make up and I spend far too much time buying skincare that I can’t afford but i’ll also be the first to cliff dive, climb a tree or roll around in mud. I love my dog like he’s my baby, going on long roadtrips, listening to R’n’B, and watching scary movies. Most of the time I speak my own language which is a mixture of English, Dutch and Turkish, and I believe that a good cup of tea can solve pretty much anything. I wanted a short, catchy name. It’s very random but ‘iz’ comes from the first two letters of the city I lived in at the time (Izmir) and ‘Kiz’ means girl in Turkish. Voilà – izkiz was born!
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Jimmy Chin @jimmychin
Jimmy Chin is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, National Geographic photographer and mountain sports athlete known for his ability to capture extraordinary imagery and stories while climbing and skiing in extremely high-risk environments and expeditions. He began his professional career in 1999, and his talents were quickly recognized by top expedition leaders and outdoor brands. In 2002, he secured a breakthrough assignment to be the cinematographer for a highprofile National Geographic– sponsored trek across Tibet’s Chang Tang Plateau. In 2006, he became one of the only people to ski off the summit of Mount Everest. 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
Jimmy has garnered numerous photography awards from Photo District News (PDN), Communication Arts, the American Society of Magazine Editors, and others. As a filmmaker, his years of experience in the adventure and extreme sports world enables him to bring an authentic and unique perspective to his storytelling. Jimmy’s photos have appeared on the cover of National Geographic and The New York Times Magazine, among others, and he has directed commercial film projects for a diverse range of clients that includes Apple, Chase, Pirelli, Red Bull, The North Face, and RSA Films.
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Julie Sariñana @sincerelyjules
Julie Sariñana founded Sincerely, Jules in February 2009. It initially started as a creative outlet, where she compiled all of her daily inspiration, thoughts, and photos of her personal style. Over the years Sincerely, Jules has developed into a top destination for style inspiration, signifying Julie as a top international fashion and lifestyle influencer. Julie is also the owner and Creative Director of the clothing line Shop Sincerely Jules.
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Julie strives to create beautiful content to inspire and help her readers achieve their goals. She lives by the motto ‘Dream , Believe, Achieve’ and encourages everyone to do so as well. Julie strongly believes that if you put your mind and your effort into everything you do you are destined for success.
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Lauren Bullen @gypsea_lust
Lauren Bullen is an Australian travel blogger based in Bali, Indonesia who is best known for her content related to travel, fashion and lifestyle that she posts on her Instagram profile @gypsea_lust and her blogging website gypsealust.com. Along with her boyfriend, Jack Morris, fellow travel blogger from the UK, she travels to exotic locations around the world to take breathtaking pictures that have earned them a combined Instagram following of nearly 5 million. They have worked with brands such as Tourism Fiji, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Disney, Air NZ, AirBnB, and NRMA insurance; however, they only work with brands they support, like or believe in. Bullen, who has 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
individually worked with some of her favourite brands like Tiffany and Co and Land Rover, has turned down offers from some fashion brands because she doesn't use their products. She has an identical twin sister named Ellie Bullen who is also an Instagram star who loves to travel, but her content is more focused on healthy lifestyle, which she promotes via her profile 'Elsa’s Wholesome Life'.
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Leonie Hanne @leoniehanne
ohhcouture.com was founded in the beginning of 2014 by former strategy consultant and passionated shopper Leonie Hanne. After being named one of the most promising talents of the textile industry by German textile journal “Textilwirtschaft”, Leonie decided to quit the corporate career in order to fulfill her dream of working independently on her own fashion and lifestyle blog. Since December 2015 Leonie runs ohhcouture.com together with Alexander Galievsky who has been in charge of cooperations and photography from the early beginnings. Alexander – Who used to be a Finance nerd – takes care of the editiorial posts on ohhcouture.com and has already 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
photographed campaigns and projects for brands such as Cartier, Sarenza and H&M. Leonie is now working as a blogger, stylist, model and social media consultant and has already cooperated with brands such as Cartier, Bulgari, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Lancome and Net-APorter. Travelling around the world with her partner in crime, Leonie creates visual stories for fashion, beauty and travel brands and shares her passion for lifestyle and wanderlust with her followers around the world.
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Louis Cole @funforlouis
Louis Cole is a British film-maker and YouTuber who loves travelling and making videos on the go. He is known for posting vlogs on his channel ‘FunForLouis’ that documents his life and travel adventures. With ‘Peace out, enjoy life and live the adventure’ as his motto, Cole makes video blogs with the aim of giving positive messages to his viewers. The social media personality initially found fame after filming eating stunts on his former channel ‘FoodForLouis’. However, after getting heavy warnings from RSPCA for violating certain acts by eating live creatures on camera, he took the food videos down and moved on to form another channel. Since then, he has been encouraging people to 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
go out and enjoy life. With his interesting and inspirational videos, Cole has gained a huge fan following. Louis Cole created his channel ‘FunForLouis’ in 2011. His first video was regarding his Norway Road trip. This video was followed by several other travelling and adventure videos such as ‘Adventure Vlog-Park Ranger Trouble’, ‘Yoda Loves Djing-UK Roadtrip’ and ‘Pancakes and Bicycles-LA Trip’, to name a few. Cole also updated his channel by posting daily vlogs on it.
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Luxury World Traveler @luxuryworldtraveler
Luxury World Traveler is the world’s largest luxury travel focused social media account with over 2.9 million avid travelers worldwide. We have leveraged the power of social media, coupled with a universal growing desire to travel the world, to create an internationally recognized travel community. Over the last 6 years we have partnered with over 400 luxury hospitality companies throughout the world to create compelling media and showcase their properties and services to our rapidly expanding global travel community. During this time we have identified characteristics in digital media that create maximum engagement and viral 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
lift. By understanding and applying these attributes we have rapidly grown our social media following and used this platform to create and distribute highly engaging digital media to our world class travel demographic. The popularity of the digital media we have created has also lead to the creation of our own luxury travel agency, which specializes in helping our community book and experience the destinations and services we showcase on our social platforms.
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Murad Osmann @muradosmann
We are Murad and Natalia Osmann. Five years ago we started our photo project Follow Me. We have been inspired by love - love to travel, love to unknown countries, love to beautiful places, and, of course, love to each other. FollowMeTo.travel is our own map of the world. We are sharing with you our stories about some of the world’s most unknown and unrecognizable landmarks and showing you how a travel to a destination you always dreamt about could become a reality. And it doesn’t matter what language you speak, or how much you earn. With you in mind we created 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
detailed guides tracing #FollowMeTo, adding to them a pinch of secret and very useful instructions from locals, and a dash of our own recommendations. Only here you could literally ‘get inside our heads’ and find out all we think about different countries, airlines, hotels, how to pack your suitcase, and other little things, which when summed up create a whole big picture of a great journey.
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Nature @nature
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Pamela Reif @pamela_rf
Pamela Reif is a German-born fitness model and social media star. Her rise to success all began at the age of 16, when she started posting pictures of her lifestyle online.
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“I started posting pictures and I had absolutely no idea that social media could get me somewhere in life.”
People became intrigued by Pamela’s aesthetic and lean physique, so much so, that they started spreading the word about the German model among others.
Pamela’s followers became intrigued by her physique, as well as her fitness story. This is where Pamela realized she could make an impact on people’s lives, along with building a healthy career on the internet.
Before long, Pamela’s social media sites started growing like never before, as she slowly made her way to the top of the fitness and social media world.
With millions of followers across the globe, she is an example for everyone who wants to take a ‘leap of faith’ towards their dreams in life – just like she did.
By 2018, Pamela became a worldwide fitness sensation, with an army of followers who support her every step of the way.
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Paul Nicklen @paulnicklen
Paul Nicklen is a Canadian photographer, filmmaker, and marine biologist who has documented the beauty and the plight of our planet for over twenty years. As an assignment photographer for National Geographic magazine, Nicklen captures the imagination of a global audience. Nicklen is uniquely qualified to create his brand of documentary photography which informs and creates an emotional connection with wild subjects in extreme conditions. His work delivers audiences to an underwater realm witnessed by few. Nicklen’s sensitive and evocative imagery has garnered over 30 of the highest awards given to any 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
photographer in his field, including the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the prestigious World Press Photo for Photojournalism. In addition to being one of the world’s most acclaimed nature photographers, Nicklen is a sought-after speaker, a TED Talks legend, an author, and National Geographic Fellow. In the past two decades, Paul has collaborated with scientists, filmmakers, conservationists and explorers to create awareness and inspire action for global issues like climate change.
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Travel Awesome @travelawesome
Travelawesome is a digital media agency specializing in social first content creation, influencer marketing and brand advertising.
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Some of our most recent clients include tourism boards, luxury hotels and resorts, fashion brands, entertainment , health and fitness celebrities and TV personalities.
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Wonderful Places @wonderful_places
Travel enthusiast Suzanne Bruch started on Instagram in 2012 and in the span of six short years has amassed a dedicated following of over 15 million across four accounts. Her most followed account @wonderful_places is an amalgamation of the world’s most stunning destinations, ranging from Krabi, Thailand to the Swiss Alps. Bruch sets herself apart from the web’s countless travel influencers by curating images and videos from some of the best travel photographers around.
Facebook page. I made the decision to focus on travel because I wanted to inspire people by the beauty of our world, and it caught on and started growing. “I hope to inspire my audience to travel to some of these incredible places or at least to show them places they may not know, or in ways that they haven’t seen them before.”
“My husband and I have always been avid travelers, even before Instagram, so when I started on Instagram back in 2012, I was thinking outside of the box, trying to make it different from my 2 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
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Xenia Tchoumitcheva @xenia
Xenia Tchoumi is a fashion influencer, digital entrepreneur and public speaker based in London. Armed with an economics degree and knack for entrepreneurship, the Swiss-Italian influencer with Russian origins speaks six languages (Italian, Russian, English, German, French and Spanish) and turned down an offer to work full- time at J.P. Morgan to continue her online endeavours for her webmagazine.
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Xenia has worked or is the digital ambassadress of high end fashion and lifestyle brands. She shoots with magazines of the likes of L’Officiel, Vogue, Vanity Fair or Elle. She has recently given three motivational TEDx talks and spoke at the United Nations. She’s a freelance magazine contributor and stands for female empowerment.
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See the ďŹ gures updated daily and live links to social media, for e.g. Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah:
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travel destinations top twenty-one
top twen
must-s
Take a look as we explore some of the hottest destinations in global hospitality – all ideal for that perfect Instagram snap‌
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see locations for 2021
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Dubai Dubai is a stirring alchemy of profound traditions and ambitious futuristic vision wrapped into starkly evocative desert splendour. It's hard not to admire Dubai for its indefatigable verve, ambition and ability to dream up and realise projects that elsewhere would never get off the drawing board. This is a superlative-craving society that has birthed audaciously high
buildings and palm-shaped islands. Sci-fi concepts such as flying taxis, a lightning-fast Hyperloop train and an army of robocops are all reflections of a mindset that fearlessly embraces the future. With many more grand projects in the pipeline for World Expo 2020, it's clear that Dubai is a city firmly in charge of writing its own narrative.
Abu Dhabi Proudly modern and cosmopolitan, Abu Dhabi is the UAE's forwardthinking cultural heart where nothing stands still – except perhaps the herons in its mangroves. The Louvre Abu Dhabi, with its globe-trotting collection covering the breadth of humanity's artistic achievements, finally threw open its doors in 2017. It's the first of the city's planned mega-museum
projects to open and a major feather in Abu Dhabi's cap as it pushes to become the region's cultural leader. Need some adrenaline in your life? Yas Island provides enough distractions to keep even the most dedicated thrill-seeker happy. This is the setting for the famed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the track hallowed
ground for Formula One fans. Yearround there are opportunities to hop in the driving seat yourself and make your own Yas Marina Circuit memories. Off the track, Ferrari World and its speed-freak favourite Formula Rossa roller coaster plus Warner Bros World provide full-on family entertainment with enough rides to wear out and sate the thrill tick-list of kids and adults alike.
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Antalya Once seen simply as the gateway to the Turkish Riviera, Antalya today is very much a destination in its own right. Situated right on the Gulf of Antalya (Antalya Kรถrfezi), the largest city on Turkey's western Mediterranean coastline is both classically beautiful and stylishly modern. At its core is the wonderfully preserved old-city district of Kaleiรงi (literally 'within the
castle'), which offers atmospheric accommodation in the finely restored Ottoman houses on its winding lanes. The old city wraps around a splendid Roman-era harbour with clifftop views of hazyblue mountain silhouettes that are worth raising a toast to. Just outside of the central city are two beaches and one of Turkey's finest museums.
The ancient Lycians were on to something when they based their empire on the stunning Teke Peninsula, the chunk of Mediterranean paradise between Antalya and Fethiye. This is Turkey at its most staggeringly beautiful: sandy sweeps of shore hug a coastline lapped by jade waters and backed by forest-blanketed slopes.
British Columbia Visitors to Canada's westernmost province should pack a long list of superlatives to deploy here; the words 'wow,' 'amazing' and 'spectacular' will only go so far. Luckily, it's not too hard to wax lyrical about the mighty mountains, deep forests and dramatic coastlines that instantly lower heart rates to tranquil levels. There's much more to British
Columbia (BC) than nature-hugging dioramas, though. Cosmopolitan Vancouver fuses cuisines and cultures from Asia and beyond, while mid-sized cities such as Victoria and Kelowna are increasingly creating their own vibrant scenes. It's also hard to beat the welcoming, sometimes quirky character of smaller communities – from Cumberland to Powell River
and Salt Spring – that are the beating heart of BC. Wherever you head, the great outdoors will always call. Don't just point your camera at it: BC is unbeatable for life-enhancing skiing, kayaking and hiking experiences that can make this the trip of a lifetime.
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Seoul Fashion- and technology-forward but also deeply traditional, this dynamic city mashes up palaces, temples, cutting-edge design and mountain trails, all to a nonstop KPop beat. Gaze down on this sprawling metropolis of around 10 million people from atop any of Seoul’s four guardian mountains and you’ll
sense the powerful pungsu-jiri (feng shui) that has long nurtured and protected the city. History clings tenaciously to the ‘Miracle on the Han’, a phoenix arisen from the ashes of the Korean War. So while Seoul has its eye clearly on the future, you'll also encounter fascinating fragments of the past in World Heritage–listed sites such as Jongmyo shrine, in the alleys
between the graceful hanok (traditional wooden homes) in Bukchon, and striding along the magnificent Seoul City Wall.
South Africa Black-maned lions framed against Kalahari dunes; powdery beaches lapped by two oceans; star-studded desert skies; jagged, lush mountains – this truly is a country of astounding diversity.
buffalo, elephant and rhino) and more in accessible parks and reserves. You can drive right into the epic wilderness at Kruger, Kgalagadi and other parks, or join khaki-clad rangers on guided drives and walks.
South Africa is one of the continent's best safari destinations, offering the Big Five (lion, leopard,
South Africa's ever-changing scenery is the perfect canvas on which to paint an activity-packed
trip. Try rock climbing in the craggy Cederberg, surfing off the Eastern Cape coast, abseiling from Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain, bungee jumping from the Garden Route's Bloukrans Bridge, or swinging into Graskop Gorge.
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travel destinations top twenty-one
Sapa, Vietnam Established as a hill station by the French in 1922, Sapa today is the tourism centre of the northwest. Sapa is oriented to make the most of the spectacular views emerging on clear days; it overlooks a plunging valley, with mountains towering above on all sides. Views are often subdued by thick mist rolling across the peaks, but even
when it's cloudy, local hill-tribe people fill the town with colour. If you were expecting a quaint alpine town, recalibrate your expectations. Modern tourism development has mushroomed haphazardly. Thanks to rarely enforced building-height restrictions, Sapa's skyline is continually thrusting upwards.
Join us at the 2021 World Travel Influencers Awards at the Armani Hotel Dubai. Immerse in an authentic Vietnamese experience punctuated by picturesque beauty and cultural diversity.
Danang Nowhere in Vietnam is changing as fast as Danang. For decades it had a reputation as a provincial backwater, but big changes are ongoing. Stroll along the Han riverfront and you'll find gleaming new modernist hotels, and apartments and restaurants are emerging. Spectacular bridges now span the river, and in the north of the city, the landmark new D-City is
rising from the flatlands. Venture south and the entire Danang Beach strip is booming with hotel and resort developments.
restaurants and nightlife is probably enough. Book an after-dark tour to see Danang at its shimmering neonlit best. The city's street-food scene also deserves close investigation.
That said, the city itself still has few conventional sightseeing spots, except for a very decent museum and a stunningly quirky bridge (or three). So for most travellers, a few days enjoying the city’s beaches,
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travel destinations top twenty-one
Phu Quoc Phu Quoc Island boasts idyllic beaches, romantic sunsets, evergreen forests, and a serene atmosphere, making it an ideal holiday destination for travellers looking to escape bustling city life. Located 45 kilometres west of Ha Tien in the far south of Vietnam, the northern part of the island is relatively untouched due to its status as a UNESCO-listed national
park but there are plenty of luxurious resorts, funky bars, and quaint cafes along the southern coastline. Aside from beachside activities, visitors can also explore traditional villages, expansive nature parks and Buddhist pagodas, all of which are easily accessible via motorcycle, taxi, bus or even daytrips by
reputable companies. Catering to just about any budget level and preference, Phu Quoc’s dining scene ranges from local markets selling fresh seafood and Vietnamese street food to expatowned bistros offering authentic western and European fare.
Kenya Vast savannahs peppered with immense herds of wildlife. Snowcapped equatorial mountains. Traditional peoples who bring soul and colour to the earth. Welcome to Kenya. When you think of Africa, you’re probably thinking of Kenya. It’s the lone acacia silhouetted on the savannah against a horizon stretching into eternity. It’s the snow-capped mountain almost on
the equator and within sight of harsh deserts. It’s the lush, palmfringed coastline of the Indian Ocean, it’s the Great Rift Valley that once threatened to tear the continent asunder, and it’s the dense forests reminiscent of the continent’s heart. In short, Kenya is a country of epic landforms that stir our deepest longings for this very special continent.
Kenya is the land of the Masai Mara, of wildebeest and zebras migrating in their millions with the great predators of Africa following in their wake, of endangered species like black rhinos managing to maintain their precarious foothold.
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travel destinations top twenty-one
Chile Chile is nature on a colossal scale, but travel here is surprisingly easy if you don't rush it. Preposterously thin and unreasonably long, Chile stretches from the belly of South America to its foot, reaching from the driest desert on earth to vast southern glacial fields. Diverse landscapes unfurl over a 4300km stretch: parched dunes, fertile valleys, volcanoes, ancient forests,
massive glaciers and fjords. There's wonder in every detail and nature on a symphonic scale. For the traveler, it's mind-boggling to find this great wilderness so intact. The human quest for development could imperil these treasures sooner than we think. Yet for now, Chile guards some of the most pristine parts of our planet, and they shouldn't be missed.
In Chile, adventure is what happens on the way to having an adventure. Pedal the chunky gravel of the Carretera Austral and end up sharing a ferry with SUVs and oxcarts, or take a wrong turn and find heaven in an anonymous orchard. Serendipity takes over. Plans may be made, but try being just as open to experience.
Jamaica Jamaica is the Caribbean country that comes with its own soundtrack. Groove to its singular rhythm as you explore beyond the beaches and allinclusives. Even in a region as crammed with jewels as the Caribbean, Jamaica is a powerfully beautiful island. Jamaica begins with crystalline waters flowing over gardens of coral, lapping onto soft sandy beaches, then rises past red
soil and lush banana groves into sheer mountains. Rushing waterfalls seem to erupt out of nowhere. Jamaican culture can be a daunting subject for foreigners to understand, but ultimately it’s a matter of appreciating this great green garden of a land and how its cyclical rhythms set the pace of so much island life.
While Jamaica's beaches are certainly alluring, this is a country to dive into, literally and figuratively. Beneath the waves there's great scuba diving and snorkeling, and you can float on the water too with lazy bamboo-raft trips (let someone else pole). The adventurous can go caving, or get their hiking boots on to explore the remote crags and forests of this crumpled landscape.
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travel destinations top twenty-one
InterContinental Maldives Opening earlier this year, InterContinental Maldives is the latest in a series of luxury resort openings from the brand. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts’ first property in the region, it is situated on the southernmost tip of the Raa Atoll near Baa Atoll, a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and one of the most secluded locations in the Maldives.
The resort boasts 81 beach, lagoon and overwater villas and residences and is the first to offer all guests access to the world-class service and amenities of Club InterContinental throughout the entire island.
These generous offerings, coupled with extensive wellness facilities, bespoke experiences and six restaurants and bars, combine to take this Maldivian gem to the next level.
Emerald Palace Kempinski Dubai Set within 100,000 sq. m of manicured grounds, Emerald Palace Kempinski Dubai lies on the West Crescent of Palm Jumeirah, the world’s largest man-made archipelago. One of the hottest new destinations, its location gives guests panoramic views of both the sea and Dubai’s skyline.
Rising above the waters of the Arabian Gulf, and flanked by 500 metres of private sandy beach, the palace is a regal landmark offering 391 luxurious rooms, suites and villas, eight restaurants and bars, a 3,000 sq. m Cinq Mondes spa, kids’ and teens’ club, and the largest private cinema on Palm Jumeirah.
Inspired by European palaces of the past, the magnificent building has been meticulously designed with neoclassical architecture at the forefront – book now!
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travel destinations top twenty-one
Oman While other destinations in the Middle East battle to recreate the authenticity they have lost as they have developed, Oman has it in spades. Low-rise towns dotted against the desert retain their traditional charms, while Bedouin values remain at the heart of the local welcome.
With an abundance of natural beauty, from spectacular mountains, wind-blown deserts and a pristine coastline, Oman is a great choice for travellers looking for something new.
Bosnia & Herzegovina Long a byword for civil strife, Bosnia & Herzegovina has in recent years reinvented itself as an affordable destination on the periphery of Europe.
What’s more, Rotana Hotels & Resorts has just opened its first hotel in the destination, making visiting even easier. Bosmal Arjaan by Rotana is strategically located within Sarajevo’s Bosmal City Centre complex and offers 132 fully serviced one, two and threebedroom deluxe hotel apartments.
The city itself attracted more than half a million visitors during 2018, representing an 18.8 per cent increase year-on-year. Renowned as one of the region’s fastest-growing business centres, Sarajevo is also establishing a reputation as a touristic hotspot.
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travel destinations top twenty-one
Vilnius After HBO miniseries ‘Chernobyl’ took the world by storm earlier this year, everybody wants to visit Lithuania. The small Baltic state had previously struggled for recognition, but is now attracting global attention as the go-to film set for period dramas and docuseries.
Many of Chernobyl’s action scenes were filmed in the country, with specialist tours of the set and reallife nuclear power plant available for visitors.
In particular, the capital city Vilnius is playing host to international film crews for a variety of projects. Diverse historical backgrounds are imprinted in the city’s surroundings, making Vilnius a go-to location for shooting films depicting various periods.
Monkey Island Estate Monkey Island Estate in Bray-onThames offers a fabulous mix of quirky charm and cutting-edge service. The island, with its intriguing history dating back 800 years, has been the haunt of monks, monarchs, aristocrats and writers alike.
Visitors from London and beyond will be transported to their own private countryside escape steeped in stylish yet laidback luxury.
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travel destinations top twenty-one
Jewel – Changi Airport With the Canopy Park and the Changi Experience Studio now open, Jewel at Changi Airport in Singapore is now complete. Four years in the making, the 135,700 sqm complex, designed by worldrenowned architect Moshe Safdie, features a distinctive dome-shaped façade.
The location offers travellers and visitors unique attractions, extensive shopping and dining experiences, as well as airport and accommodation facilities. The majestic 40-metre HSBC Rain Vortex, the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, will greet visitors as they enter. Surrounding it are the manicured grounds of the Shiseido Forest Valley.
Already much more than an airport, Changi is now a destination in its own right.
Radisson Collection Hotel, Moscow From the impressive, palatial exterior to the luxurious interior featuring 501 stunning rooms and suites - Radisson Collection Hotel is a true Moscow landmark.
The property itself is one of the capital's ‘Seven Sisters’, a family of renowned neoclassical skyscrapers, while the rooms and public spaces echo the special nature of the building - with the finest materials and most exclusive furniture seen throughout the hotel.
Located on the bend of the Moskva River, the hotel was formerly the tallest in Europe. It remains an imposing presence on Moscow’s skyline – a must see for any selfrespecting traveller.
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travel destinations top twenty-one
VANCOUVER ISLAND In amongst the knotted tangle of Vancouver Island's evergreen forest, it's easy to forget that this is supposedly the most populated island in North America. Mother Nature is still queen, with bears (grizzly and black) roaming the interior and excellent whalewatching off the coast. Even if you're not barmy about wildlife, this island is one big playground.
Daredevils can throw themselves down whitewater rapids, paraglide from peaks or snorkel and dive the sea. There's a more chilled-out side too; the surfer town of Tofino is quickly becoming the best place for food and glamping. Pay a visit to the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The park falls within the traditional
territories of nine different nations of the Nuu-chah-nulth people, and park authorities work closely with those nations to manage the lands respectfully and represent First Nations culture. It’s one of few examples of tourism in Canada working for indigenous people, and is well worth supporting.
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World Travel Influencers
Platinum Category 1 million followers or more
influencers MAGAZINE
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Aggie Lal @travel_inhershoes
Adventurer. Inner peace seeker. Nature addict. Sailor. Olympiclevel liquid spiller. Obsessive learner. Explorer. Story teller. I visited 53 countries so far, but who’s counting? (ok, I am!) I am a Polish born, Australian educated, Los Angeles based adventure traveler, writer, blogger and photographer.
I sailed across the Pacific (without any prior sailing experience), lived in a Zulu village in Africa and studied on 3 different continents in Brazil, Australia and Poland. I also used to be a TV host (#childstar), an actress in over dozen TV commercials, PAed for MTV and multiple Hollywood productions. These days I love infecting people with a travel bug.
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worldsocialmedia.directory/aggie/
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Altug Galip @kyrenian
Altug Galip (kyrenian) is a world traveler who was born in London but later moved backed to his parents’s native land of Cyprus. He’s a freelance photographer, a social media specialist, and one of T+L‘s social ambassadors. His photos are jaw-dropping, as you’ll see with one glance at his Instagram account. It’s no surprise he has over a million followers.
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Angelica Blick @angelicablick
With nearly a decade’s experience in the social media sphere, Angelica is currently one of Europe’s top lifestyle and fashion influencers and has one of the most loyal and wide-ranging fan bases on all platforms: Instagram, blogs and YouTube. She has won numerous prestigious awards such as VR Blog Awards’ ‘Fashion Blog of the Year’ and Vixen Awards’ ‘Best International Blog’.
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Angelica has designed 2 hugely successful collections for BikBok and collaborated on designs with Nelly.com, as well as working with leading brands such as Pretty Little Thing, Dior, GUESS, Maybelline, L´Oréal, Missguided and Schwarzkopf. with In 2019, Safira Angelica is launching her own jewellery collection.
worldsocialmedia.directory/angelica-blick-2/
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Cristina Mittermeier @cristinamittermeier
Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier was born in Mexico City in 1966 and grew up in nearby Cuernavaca, in the sunny state of Morelos. She is a photographer and marine biologist who for the past 25 years has been working as a writer, conservationist and photographer. She graduated from the ITESM University in Mexico with a degree in Biochemical Engineering in Marine Sciences and later attended the Fine Art Photography program at the Corcoran College for the Arts in Washington, D.C. In 2005 she founded the prestigious International League of
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Conservation Photographers (ILCP) to provide a platform for photographers working on environmental issues. In 2015 she co-founded Sea Legacy, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the ocean, with her partner, Canadian photographer Paul Nicklen SeaLegacy is an organization dedicated to promoting the protection of the world’s oceans through storytelling. Cristina’s work has been published in hundreds of publications, including National Geographic Magazine, McLean’s and TIME.
worldsocialmedia.directory/cristina-mittermeier/
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Daniel Kordan @danielkordan
I have been fascinated by the possibilities of photography since my early childhood. I grew up at beautiful lake region under Moscow exploring wild nature, spending most of my free time in the nature. I graduated the art painting school when I was a kid. Mix art, nature, constant activities and you’ll receive a summary – art of Landscape photography. Life started swirling me, pushing me into the rush. University, hard work on my quantum physics thesis, family and friends… But there is always a pleasure in the pathless woods: places I always returned and always admired. Nature is my inspiration, with all the beauty and variety of colours and compositions. 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
Lucky for me during my study at Institute of Physics and Technology I gained experience in mountain climbing and hiking, guiding tourist groups in winter and in summer. I became a guide of photo-workshops and chief editor of “Continent expedition” magazine. I live in the world today, but there are places on Earth, I attached with by my soul. It’s villa Gaia in Tuscany I live mainly these days. I love Lofoten islands, with their remarkable atmosphere of fishing villages, sailing adventures, incredible hikes and northern lights dances during the winter time.
worldsocialmedia.directory/daniel-kordan/
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Debi FluĚˆgge @debiflue
Debi Flugge was born on the 24th of August, 1991. She is best known for being a Blogger. She and Adventurous Miriam are both known travel bloggers. Debi Flugge’s age is 28. German blogger and globetrotter who founded her eponymous blog, Debi Flue. She originally started blogging as a hobby in 2013 to share her travels with friends and family and it grew from there. The 28-year-old blogger was born in Berlin. She was a track and field athlete growing up and participated in the German Championships.
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socialmedia.directory/debi-flugge-vegan-diet/
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Dotz Soh @dotzsoh
star from Singapore. Dotz graduated from London as an Interior Designer. She travels around the globe to capture majestic natural and urban landscapes.
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“Inspired by many amazing photographers and started shooting and still learning. Being a designer I love to create my artwork with a different touch.�
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twenty questions
@dotzsoh Influencers Magazine caught up with Dotz Soh to ask about her life as an influencer.
1. Did you travel in 2020?
Yes I did. I visited Saudi Arabia and went on a cruise to Malaysia at the beginning of the year.
2. Where were you in lockdown?
I was at home in Singapore during lockdown.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why?
This is a difficult question to answer as I have been on so many amazing trips. One of the most memorable trips last year was to Uzbekistan where I got to visit ancient cities, learn about their culture, travel with 99 other influencers from all over the world and met the Uzbekistan president.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? I miss local Singaporean food most, along with simple home cooking.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Aeroplane is my favourite mode of transport. I like the moment of take off and also soaring through the sky.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? Passport, mobile phone, camera, wallet, some clothes, toiletries and charger.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought?
My mobile phone.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? I would like to go to Iceland.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021?
I would like to go to New York City.
10. Window or aisle seat? I will pick the aisle seat.
11. Where did you grow up?
I was born and raised in Singapore, then went to London to further my studies for a few years, graduating as an interior designer.
12. What were your holidays like as a child?
My family and I always travelled
together when I was a child. My parents took me and my sisters on yearly overseas vacations that we always looked forward to.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I posted travel photos and occasional lifestyle shots when I started my Instagram accounts many years ago without knowing what an influencer was. I like to create content and share my moments on my account.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? I guess the biggest highlight is to be able to visit countries that are less travelled and getting to meet and know like minded creators from different countries sharing amazing experiences and stories and becoming friends with creators all over the world.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite?
My favourite shot this year is a hot air balloon shot I took at AlUla, Saudi Arabia.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 16. What’s on your playlist? I have a bunch of upbeat songs that energise me and get me ready for the day and also some relaxing ones. My current top 3 is ‘Lonely’ by Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco, ‘Slow dancing in the dark’ by Joji, and ‘Put your records on’ by Ritz Momney.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? Two years ago, I was in Phuket, Thailand with my family, taking a boat to visit some nearby islands when suddenly a storm kicked in. The small boat was getting heavily rocked by the large waves crashing into us. We were all drenched and shaking. Fortunately, the sailer was experienced enough to get us through. A short while after, we learned that a big ferry capsized during a violent storm in the same region, killing more than 41 tourists.
18. What place is top of your bucket list? Switzerland.
19. What has 2020 taught you? 2020 has indeed presented some unforeseen challenges. It was my first time staying at home for months in lockdown, and being unable to travel freely like I used to. 2020 has given me opportunity to learn and grow mentally, to be more grateful and appreciate life. I am glad to spend much more time with my family, exercising regularly and learning some new things.
20. Where will you go in 2021? I would like to go to countries with beautiful nature landscapes and take many photographs of them.
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traveltv.tube
travel videos from around the world
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Hannes Becker @hannes_becker
Hannes Becker is a freelance photographer specializing in outdoors, adventures and landscapes from Hesse, Germany. Hannes grew up in a rural area which significantly shaped his photographic style. Before starting freelancing he did a photography apprenticeship in the studio for one year.
In order to inspire the viewer and portray his experiences realistically, he aims not only to document his travels in nature but incorporate his personal interpretation with particular importance on composition and mood.
Passionate about travelling, he has used the platform of Instagram for the last five years to share his impressions on a daily basis.
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Joel Sartore @joelsartore
Joel Sartore is an award-winning photographer, speaker, author, conservationist, and the 2018 National Geographic Explorer of the Year. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic Magazine, and an Eagle Scout. His hallmarks are a sense of humor and a Midwestern work ethic. Joel specializes in documenting endangered species and landscapes around the world. He is the founder of the Photo Ark, a 25-year documentary project to save species and habitat.
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“It is folly to think that we can destroy one species and ecosystem after another and not affect humanity,” he says. “When we save species, we’re actually saving ourselves.”
Joel and the Photo Ark are the subjects of the television series RARE, in which he documents some of the most endangered creatures left on Earth. In addition to National Geographic, Joel contributes to Audubon, Geo, the New York Times, and Smithsonian. He has several books, including Photo Ark: A World Worth Saving, and RARE: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species. Joel is always happy to return from his travels around the world to his home in Lincoln, Nebraska.
worldsocialmedia.directory/joel-sartore/
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Keith Ladzinski @ladzinski
Born in New York, raised in Colorado, Keith’s love of photography started after buying a beat up camera from a pawnshop. His early subjects mirrored his polarized passions, skateboarding in the city and exploring the quiet mountains of Colorado. One, built around an immersed subculture, skating from concrete place to place with friends, trespassing, shooting photos in the dead of night with rushed artificial light setups and running from security guards. The other, alpine starts in the mountains, long approaches alone to quaint places, patiently hunting for natural light and thoughtful composition. It was an unintentional education in two styles of photography and wasn’t 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
long before the two merged, initially into his love for rock climbing. It was here that Keith forged his roots, in the world of extreme sports working tirelessly with the industries top athletes, outdoor industry clients and agencies. Today, Keith’s work primarily focuses on natural history, climate change, extreme sports and advertising, sending him to the furthest reaches of the 7 continents multiple times over.
worldsocialmedia.directory/keith-ladzinski/
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Konsta Punkka @kpunkka
Konsta Punkka is a worldwide published wildlife, adventure & landscape photographer and speaker. Specialised to capture expressions and feelings of wildlife around the world. Clients varies from car industries and photography brands to tourism boards and outdoor brands. He has also worked with several organisations sharing the effects of climate change. Konsta Punkka started his career as a 17-years old when photography hobby turned into a full time job. Local wildlife and nature has always inspired Konsta who spent all his summer holidays in central Finland looking for wildlife and beautiful nature. Later the journey took him 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
around the world to capture the same intimate moments of different species. But north is still the most inspiring area for Konsta. With specific fox families he has known for years. Konsta spends 200 days a year outside Finland on different commissions but loves to spend time in Finland during the midnight sun and harsh winter. Konsta is always looking for new projects related to his passion.
worldsocialmedia.directory/konsta-punkka/
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Lyss Boss @lyss
Alyssa is from New York: “I’ve always had a sincere passion for reading and writing, but recently I’ve taken an interest in social networking and blogging. “I realize that accepting yourself, and loving yourself, is the KEY to being healthy and happy. Exercising and dieting is certainly helpful, but they are void if you do not respect who you are. Be happy, love your body, love who you are and don’t set crazy expectations for yourself like I did. There is no reason to stress and hurt yourself in the process of wanting to better yourself. You just need a little patience and determination, and you will most definitely reach all of your goals in life. 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
“All of this being said, I’m taking what I have learned during my fitness journey and sharing it with the world. I hope my blog will inspire and motivate others to be the best person they can be in a safe, healthy, and happy way!”
worldsocialmedia.directory/lyss-boss/
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twenty questions
@lyss Here, Influencers Magazine catches up with Lyss to pose twenty questions on being an Influencer.
1. Did you travel in 2020? I barely traveled in 2020! I stayed with family in Arizona for part of quarantine and had a business trip to LA! Other than that I haven’t travelled at all.
2. Where were you in lockdown?
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? I usually only pack a few workout outfits, my Evian facial spray for the plane, a mini jar of coconut oil for moisturizer, and a few other toiletry necessities! I’m a really light packer as it is!
I was in lockdown between Arizona and New York City.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought?
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why?
Definitely the facial spray I just mentioned. Mineral water spray that you can take on the go to hydrate your face throughout flights has saved my skin.
Definitely the Maldives! The Maldives always feels private, secluded and the beaches are the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen in the world! The water is so mesmerizing.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? I always bake vegan chocolate chip cookies after dinner when I’m home so when I’m travelling I definitely miss those a lot!
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? My favourite method of travel is definitely plane!
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? If it was possible I would love to honeymoon in Bora-Bora.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? Hopefully if travel resumes back to normal, I’d love to take another visit to Tokyo!
10. Window or aisle seat? Window.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 11. Where did you grow up? I grew up on Long Island, New York.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? My holidays were really amazing. I spent them with my family in New York and everyone was super close so it was always a nice time to relax and recharge for the new year.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I always had a passion for creating and sharing my work, and after being unsure of my career path in college, I started working on my Instagram and it really took off.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? Being able to travel the world and meet so many cool people along the way.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? https://www.instagram.com/p/B9c e90YB4TT/?igshid=y3rrhl8bqwoq This photo in particular because it was such a happy moment!
16. What’s on your playlist? I’m currently listening to the new Taylor Swift album.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? There was one time my flight had to have an emergency landing, but
fortunately I haven’t had anything really scary happen to me!
18. What place is top of your bucket list? Definitely Bora-Bora, I still haven’t been there yet!
grateful for staying present, and spending more time with the people I care about.
20. Where will you go in 2021? I’m planning a few more trips but as of right now, Hawaii and Maldives!
19. What has 2020 taught you? Last year has taught me to be
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Max Rive @maxrivephotography
Born and raised in the flat country off the Netherlands, Max visited the high mountains of Switzerland for the first time at the age of 5. Looking at topo maps, making hiking routes and running in front of his parents and brother, it was immediately obvious that Max had a true and deep passion for mountains and landscapes. It is through his experience - that growth, fulfilling dreams and the success that comes with it will come eventually over time when following the things deep within your heart and daring to free
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yourself from all barriers that have been taught, learned and accepted in today’s society – which has given him confidence and understanding that everything is possible with his photography. Future Photography tours are planned in China, Russia, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, Peru and New Zealand. Through his tours, Max shares an incomparable experience of adventure which often results in dramatic, unique and compelling Photography.
worldsocialmedia.directory/max-rive/
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Michael Yamashita @yamashitaphoto
Photographer Michael Yamashita has been shooting for the National Geographic magazine for over 30 years, combining his dual passions of photography and travel. After graduating from Wesleyan University with a degree in Asian studies, he spent seven years in Asia, which became his photographic area of specialty. Upon returning to the US, Yamashita began shooting for the National Geographic as well as other American and international magazines and clients.
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In addition to Yamashita’s focus on Asia, his work has taken him to six continents. As a thirdgeneration Japanese-American, he is fluent in Japanese, and has covered the length of Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Yamashita’s particular specialty is in retracing the paths of famous travelers, resulting in stories on Marco Polo, the Japanese poet Basho, and the Chinese explorer Zheng He.
worldsocialmedia.directory/michael-yamashita/
influencers MAGAZINE
interview
Marco Polo was one of us... Influencer Magazine Zooms with world renowned photographer, Michael Yamashita. “He would have been on Instagram, he would have been a major influencer...” Just like Michael Yamashita himself. His passion? Asia. His followers? 1.8 million. A National Geographic veteran he’s spent more than 30 years behind the lens, tracing Marco Polo’s 13th century footsteps, and becoming a real authority. “I’ve built up, not just an expertise, but the biggest body of work on China in the world.” China. If it wasn’t on your radar before 2020, it sure is now. “I’ve gotta get back. It’s been a whole year...” Michael was on his way to China in February 2020 when he had to cancel the flight, turn around and come home. He has a Chinese sponsor, Sony in Shanghai, but political relations between the US and China are tepid to say the least. “I’m not even sure how I’ll be perceived and accepted there now. I’ve always had nothing but positive experiences. Where I left off in China was Tibet, but who knows when Tibet is going to open up again?” One thing he is sure about is the Covid vaccine, “I’m a volunteer fireman, so I’ll be one of the first to get it in the USA, but it still has to be
accepted by other countries...”. And so, he waits. When we caught up with him he’d come in from the cold. Literally. Holed up at home, in the countryside in New Jersey, he’d been preparing salt and spreaders, awaiting snow. A foot and a halves worth. “I’m going to be snow bound for the next two days...” But, like the rest of us, Michael’s used to staying home. “That’s been one of the good things about the pandemic, I can’t travel, so I’ve been travelling through the archives.” And dusting off his box of delights has revealed treasure. “What you do when you’re working is you choose what you think is absolutely the best frame to tell the story and the rest get mothballed. You don’t bother looking at them again. So, I’ve been combing my body of work, and I’ve found all these gems.” And he’s found a new way of displaying them too. A quick look at his Instagram history and you’ll see he’s been a single picture kinda guy for years, but 2020 has shifted his mindset. “I’m a storyteller and I’m finding that more than one photo together, creates something new. Little story, after little story. So, multiple picture posts are the thing for me now.”
“But, I’m very careful about what I post. I like to stick to my game, meaning my pictures. There’s this influencer perk where you get people who want to pay you to put something up. I get an enquiry a day but you have to think, who are you posting for? It’s your credibility and I don’t want to look like I’m just a shell for somebody who aims to make money - including myself. I’ll put a mention in, or a ‘sponsored by’, but that’s about as far as I go.” Michael joined Instagram in 2012. “It was obvious that the medium was going to be the perfect venue for photographers and photography. All the National Geographic photographers were posting, it was almost like a contest, who was getting the most numbers? And you just posted everyday. The gratification was suddenly seeing all these comments and getting real feedback. You do a story for a magazine and you wait for the next two or three months to see a letter to the editor, but here you had this global audience that I could communicate with. Directly. That’s been gratifying.” “It’s still the best thing about Instagram. The immediacy. I get a lot of enthusiasm, of course, but also some really serious thinking goes into some of the comments. About the environment, or whatever I happen to
“HE WOULD HAVE BEEN ON INSTAGRAM, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN A MAJOR INFLUENCER...”
influencers MAGAZINE
interview
be posting. I do try and stick to what is happening. The other day I threw up a couple on coal because China had made an announcement about their new policy towards climate change.” Michael Yamashita’s been photographing China since 1982. “Eventually you become an expert. During those 30 years I just happened to witness the fastest and most historic growth of any country, and working for National Geographic got me the access, better than any Chinese photographer. There were restrictions on them travelling and I had the big budget, and the time, and went everywhere in China. I concentrated on the great icons, the Wall, the Silk Road, Grand Canal. Everything. Every icon I could think of.” So much so, that Michael Yamashita’s become an important voice for Asia, he’s written a huge number of books,
held countless exhibitions and gets called on by a lot of Chinese companies and groups, to speak about their history too. “But it wasn’t planned. I was just enjoying working there and all of this good stuff happened. 6 months a year, back and forth, story after story.” And then he got the assignment of a lifetime. Retrace Marco Polo’s steps. “He was the world’s greatest overland traveller, the first travel journalist. I was the first to do the entire trip, not only overland but then following him back. But I had no idea it was going to take off and be so popular. We had 80 pages in National Geographic, which was unheard of, I had a documentary film which then led to one on Zheng He, the 15th century admiral who travelled the world. That was in the opposite direction. So, I did complete East West and then West East and that’s
become my persona.” “Marco Polo was the first person to write about his travels too. He wrote about it in a real way, as opposed to fantastic stories about the beasts and weirdness that you’d meet on the road. No. We believe he wrote from first hand observation. He wrote what was out there, whetted appetites and ushered in the Age of Discovery. You know, Christopher Columbus travelled with a copy of Marco Polo? I’ve photographed it in Spain, he’d highlighted several sections of Marco travelling in India. In fact, Columbus was looking for the routes of gold in Japan, that Marco had described, when he found America.” “Marco Polo would have been on Instagram. He would have been a major influencer! He went everywhere, he told tales, he was a storyteller. And about parts of the world nobody had ever heard of, or dreamed of! And that’s also why he
“I’M A PRODUCT OF EAST AND WEST. I’M JAPANESE AMERICAN, I GREW UP IN THE US NOT KNOWING A THING ABOUT ASIA UNTIL I GOT TO COLLEGE AND I STUDIED ASIAN HISTORY.”
wasn’t believed. His nickname was Il Milione because he was the ‘man of a million lies’. People just couldn’t imagine that on the other side of the world, was this amazing country that was so much richer and better developed, than anywhere in Europe and the West.”
actually taken with his cellphone. “Being an influencer has meant I’ve ended up shooting for every big Chinese manufacturer of cellphones and every cellphone is made in China! So, I’ve done them all. My normal phone is the iPhone but there’s a lot better camera phones out there!”
But it’s not just a window to the world 700 years ago that Michael Yamashita’s feed focuses on. For the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s death he revisited his 2008 photo shoot with Yoko Ono. “Because of my connection with the Far East, I got a call to photograph her. I got into some very intimate situations, I have pictures of her getting her haircut in her kitchen, she was trying on all kinds of jeans. I found a lot of stuff that’s never been posted before and, it was John Lennon’s anniversary, so I pulled that out and put it up.”
So what next for Michael Yamashita? Before the pandemic, he’d started a new project in Hokkaido, the scene of his first ever story for National Geographic. Once life returns to normal, he’s heading back.
It may come as a surprise that a lot of Michael’s photos on Instagram are
“I’m calling it Full Circle, and I just want to go back and visit a lot of places that were pivotal in my career. With photography it’s always interesting to go back and see what’s changing.” “And I’m a product of East and West. I’m Japanese American, I grew up in the US not knowing a thing about Asia until I got to college and I studied Asian History. I made my first roots
trip right out of college to Japan. To an American, I look Japanese, but I can tell you, I’m not very Japanese when it comes to the way I think!” “My friends say, why don’t you travel the USA but that’s not my thing. I’m a terrible tourist. I can’t go sit on a beach and enjoy that. I can’t just go, to say, the Grand Canyon, and stand where the tourists stand and take a picture. That’s not meaningful. When I make these trips to Asia I know where I’m going and why. And for me, to have no ‘why?’ that just doesn’t happen. I’ve not been interested in travelling for the sake of travel.” And focusing on Asia works for him, it’s long been a perfect fit and a journey still to be travelled. Michael sums it up himself, “I look the part, I travel easy” and perhaps, most importantly of all he jokes, “I like eating rice!”
influencers MAGAZINE
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Mike Chen @mikexingchen
Versatile Youtuber who captains numerous popular channels including the insanely popular mystery and paranormal channel Beyond Science and the popular food channels Strictly Dumpling and Pho The Love of Food. He also shares the Asian culture channel The Chen Dynasty and posts travel vlogs to the channel Mikey Chen.
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He first launched his channels Strictly Dumpling and Beyond Science in October 2013. He has documented travels to Japan, Mongolia, New York, and countless other locations on his self-titled YouTube channel.
worldsocialmedia.directory/mike-chen/
influencers MAGAZINE
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Nataly Osmann @natalyosmann
Noteworthy, you will not see the face of a slender brunette whom photographer Murad Osmann followed. The Internet famous project featuring a mysterious girl leading her boyfriend by the hand has become a sensation. Indeed, the photographs show the most beautiful destinations around the world. So, the authors of the project have finally opened their secrets. In particular, the muse is a Russian glamorous girl Nataly Zakharova, and it’s time to show not only her back.
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Following the success of the images, proud Osmann was happy to reveal the face of his lover. Osmann’s Instagram account reveals images of the pair’s travels including trips to Disney World, Venice, London among their many destinations. Originally from Dagestan, Murad moved to Moscow, where he lives now. Let’s remember how the photographer’s girlfriend led him around the world.
socialmedia.directory/наталья-осман/
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@natalyosmann Influencers Magazine caught up with influencer Nataly Osmann to ask her about her life as one.
1. Did you travel in 2020? Yes! Before lockdown I was in Paris, Morrocco and Bali. After the lockdown I visited Dubai. Also, I travelled across our country a lot.
2. Where were you in lockdown? My husband and I spend this time in our Moscow apartment.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? I’m in love with India! Each trip to that country was amazing. In fact, all trips are unique. Destinations are so different. Culture, people, geography – it’s impossible to choose one favourite trip.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? There is no particular food I miss because it is so exciting to taste new dishes in different countries! Depending on the culture and geography there is always a great variety to choose. I like healthy food.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? I love trains the most.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? OMMA yoga mat with my exclusive design https://ommarussia.ru/kovrikidlyayo gi/tproduct/139030478607630839851rose-quartz-bynataly-osmann-x-omma Minerals and stones. I always take some minerals with me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a far away trip or coffee time with friends. Things for my beauty rituals: creams, oils, essences. I like to take care about my skin and myself. Aura soma. I like to use different essential oils, mix them and add to my skin.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? My camera! I’m always travelling with it, making videos for my YouTube channel.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? We have a tradition to celebrate our anniversary. Actually, we’ve already had three weddings: one in Moscow, then a huge celebration in Dagestan with all of Murad's family, then we had a traditional Bali wedding with
all of the traditional rituals. Each year we try to visit Mykonos, we love this island so much.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? We would like to visit somewhere where we can see the northern lights.
10. Window or aisle seat? Window, please.
11. Where did you grow up? Izhevsk, Russia.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? I spent a lot of time with my grandparents in Nizhniy Novgorod. Together we spent time walking to the Kremlin (Nizhniy Novgorod has its own Kremlin), or living in the countryside. Such warm memories.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? Our project #FollowMeTo appeared unexpectedly. It was a random shot, which Murad took in Barcelona. We had no idea that this shot would be so in demand by the audience! We
INFLUENCERS
Q&A decided to continue creating beautiful photos all over the world!
that I've never been to before, but my dream is Nepal.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer?
19. What has 2020 taught you?
So many over the years! We addressed 10,000 people at a summit in Portugal, we have taken loads of #FollowMeTo photos with famous people all over the world, we've met Jordan princesses, collaborated with famous people, plus Forbes US named us one of the most successful travel influencers in the world. So many great projects – it’s hard to choose.
Being pregnant, and the whole process of it, taught me to be more conscious, sensitive to the world, and wise.
20. Where will you go in 2021? We have a lot of great projects for
next year! I hope that the pandemic situation becomes more positive and we will be able to make farreaching plans. We would like to show more of our country. Show how beautiful it is, show it to our foreign friends. We would like people from all over the world to know that Russia is a safe country with great travelling potential! In 2021 there will be an opportunity to apply for an electronic visa to Russia within three days!
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? This photo is my favourite in 2020: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI8A 1ZyhBdV/?igshid=auvvsqbvbxt7
16. What’s on your playlist? I have a great playlist for meditation and relaxation! It’s available to listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i 9dQZF1DX8RbxCgI1PnY
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? There was a very scary photoshoot once. We decided we’d take some great photos in Hollywood from a helicopter. But I didn't expect it would be a helicopter without doors and that I would be half way out of it!
18. What place is top of your bucket list? It’s so hard to choose one place from so many amazing destinations
influencers MAGAZINE
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Ocean Ramsey @oceanramsey
Growing up surfing and diving my whole life I’ve shared the water with many sharks. I’m a marine biologist, shark and marine conservationist, professional freediver, professional scuba instructor, surfer, swimmer, yogi, and professional model. I achieved my associate’s degree in behavioral sciences, psychology, my undergraduate was marine biology, and masters studies ethology, the study of animal behavior, specifics on shark behavior, body language, social hierarchy and how they react and interact with their environment. My current research seeks to measure if their behavior is significantly affected by environmental specifics including weather and the presence of 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
other animal species and what are the human implications of spending time in proximity to sharks in and out of known aggregation sites. My passion is conservation work, sharing my voice for sharks, other marine life, the ocean, and nature in general because I deeply value and respect sharks and the natural world because of my many years of personal experience and the depth of my understanding of ecological roles as well as the incredible “best moments of my life” that have happened while interacting with marine life and being in the ocean and nature away from human civilization.
worldsocialmedia.directory/ocean-ramsey/
influencers MAGAZINE
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Pilot Madeleine @pilotmadeleine
There's no shortage of lifestyle bloggers travelling the world, sharing their wanderlust-inducing pictures on Instagram to hoards of followers. But few of them have the knowledge of the globe that a pilot does — and a view from the cockpit. Known as @pilotmadeleine on Instagram, Madeleine SchneiderWeiffenbach calls herself a "blogger & globetrotter" — and she also happens to be a trained pilot on the hunt for a job. Until the perfect role crops up, her followers watch as she travels the world — usually with her 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
boyfriend, who also has a big following — sharing stunning snaps of destinations like Santorini and the Taj Mahal. Meanwhile, she also writes a lifestyle blog where she shares her tips on travel, fitness, fashion, recipes, and even has an online shop where she sells her own book about "clean and creative cooking." She gained her Commercial Pilot License a few years ago, but has since struggled to find the perfect pilot job. Instead, she has focused on lifestyle blogging, travelling the world, and occasionally flying privately.
worldsocialmedia.directory/pilot-madeleine/
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@pilotmadeleine Influencers Magazine asks Madeleine SchneiderWeiffenbach twenty questions on being an Influencer.
2. Where were you in lockdown? Together with my family in Malta. It was actually a great place to spend the lockdown.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? All of our Hawaii trips. I just love the beautiful nature there!
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? One of my favourite cities is Cape Town, but in Europe I’d say Paris.
10. Window or aisle seat? Always the window seat.
I love the food in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I’m a big fan of Arabian cuisine.
11. Where did you grow up?
I’m a pilot so definitely the airplane!
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag?
Yes, I was lucky to travel to a few places in 2020 such as Switzerland, Sweden, South Africa, Santorini, Mykonos, Maldives (twice), Dubai, Positano & Capri.
Definitely Bora Bora.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most?
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile?
1. Did you travel in 2020?
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021?
Laptop, camera, my skin care routine, a few clothes & our drone.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? For sure our camera.
In Frankfurt, Germany. But I also lived many years in the USA and in Munich, Germany.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? I’ve never flown on an airplane with my parents. We always visited Arosa, Switzerland as a kid which I loved!
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I never planned on becoming an influencer (or rather content creator… I like that description better). I started my account when I
INFLUENCERS
Q&A was done with flight school in order to connect with other pilots.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? Meeting my followers is the most rewarding thing ever. And of course getting paid for travelling to some of the most beautiful places in the world is also pretty rad!
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? Maybe this one in the Maldives: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9i7 m6sIOJ_/?igshid=1384xzbbwts3s
16. What’s on your playlist? I don’t actually have one!
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? When our alarm went off in Cape Town and we thought someone had broken into our apartment.
18. What place is top of your bucket list? Australia.
19. What has 2020 taught you? To be very grateful for everything, such as health or the freedom to travel. I will definitely never take those things for granted ever again!
20. Where will you go in 2021? Two places have already been confirmed: St. Lucia and Zanzibar. I also really wanna visit Iceland.
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Quin Schrock @everchanginghorizon
Quin Schrock is an adventure and lifestyle photographer based out of Southern California and Oahu. As a kid, Quin spent his free time outside surfing, skating, and pushing the limit on acceptable back flip locations. That sense of wonder and freedom that Quin got from nature as a child never went away, and there is still nothing he would rather do than play outside. Although now you’ll find him with his camera in tow!
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Always one to forge his own path, Quin’s distinct photographic style captures the intrepid human spirit engaging with diverse, remote, and off the beaten path landscapes. Quin genuinely enjoys living on the edge, and the excitement and anticipation that he experiences for each new destination and adventure comes through in his unique and creative compositions.
worldsocialmedia.directory/quin-schrock/
influencers MAGAZINE
interview
Shifting gear: One man and his van We Zoom with @everchanginghorizon’s Quin Schrock as he evolves from photographer to designer. Before Quin Schrock developed a brand around road trips, he was an internal auditor. Seriously. Quin is not what you’re thinking. “I graduated with an accounting degree. I was married and making decisions around a stable future - a family, a house - routine decisions that a lot of people go through but then, all of a sudden, I got divorced.”
And the ball started rolling. Today Quin boasts 1.2 million followers on Instagram. Not bad for a self confessed introvert... “I was never the life of the party and I was never into the party scene. I didn’t have a lot of friends and that defined me.” He credits his success with timing.
“I’m an influencer because my life story aligned real nicely with the rise of Instagram. I’d never thought I could be a photographer back in 2013. I wasn’t going to buy a really nice camera. I had an iPhone 4. Then I took a shot of Machu Picchu that suddenly got popular but, initially, I was just posting to show my friends and family.” A few months of travel suddenly turned into a full time vacation and his ‘normal life’ hiatus isn’t ending anytime soon. “I’ve been on the road for 6 years now. I live in my van, full time. I’m a van lifer. But, I’m an assisted one! I have different driveways that I crash. I do sleep in my van every night but I can take showers. I have my brother in Portland and friends in Seattle, Utah, California. Plus, my parents are in California, where I am now.” 2020 is the year Quin has fully embraced van life, shifting his focus from photography to building. And specialising in getting the interiors just perfect. “I was always super artistic. I would decorate my room in crazy ways and then my car, so it looked abstract and weird. Right now I’m in a sprinter van. It was a quarantine project and I’m building another one. It makes sense for me to do this rather than promote travel at the moment. This year has made van life more relevant.
“SOMETIMES IT HITS ME... I’M IN MY 30S AND LIVE IN A CAR. NOT MARRIED, NO KIDS, AND NO GRAND PLAN FOR THE FUTURE. BUT MAN, AM I RICH IN STORIES...”
influencers MAGAZINE
interview
And it’s probably the safest way you can move around. You don’t use hotels, you don’t have to eat in restaurants. You sleep in the van, you cook in the van. It’s like staying home whilst still travelling.” But it’s come at a cost. “Financially it’s not been great, I’ve lost 4 big campaigns. It’s been my lowest year since I started but saying that, I don’t feel comfortable promoting travel abroad at the moment.” Inspiration for his account actually comes from the US version of TV show, The Office.
“I want to entertain my audience. I’m like a one man show, creating characters. I’ll have a big, dangerous looking ‘shock factor’ post, then I’ll have a beautiful scenery one and then a big portrait shot of Jess, my business partner. But it’s been go, go, go for years and I’ve enjoyed slowing down.” One of the big road trips he took in 2020 was South America. It led to one of his favourite photos. “It was like the pinnacle of my career, I look for unique landscapes, unique experiences and the Salt Flats in Bolivia have long been on my bucket list. It’s such a weird place it’s hard to
understand. It had just rained, so there was this thin sheet of water and that became a mirror. Like the world’s biggest mirror. With Jess saying it was too bright!” It was a perfect moment. Van life style. “We had all the comforts from home and that crazy view, right out the doors.” When Quin Schrock finds something interesting, everything else fades away. Life, an ever changing horizon.
“ WANT TO ENTERTAIN MY AUDIENCE. I’M LIKE A ONE MAN SHOW, CREATING CHARACTERS.”
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world travel influencers platinum category
Renan Ozturk @renan_ozturk
Renan lives to tell stories about our connection to the natural world, often set within the most challenging environments on Earth. He’s constantly searching for projects that move him -films that have a strong visual identity matched with some deeply compelling human element.
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He began his career as an expedition climber and landscape artist, spending years living in a tent beneath the big walls of U.S. National Parks and in the snowy Himalayan mountains. All of his paintings were created on expedition, carrying large cotton canvases on his back, sometimes even using natural pigments pulled straight from the earth to capture these wildly beautiful
landscapes. He received National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2013 for his combination of cutting-edge first ascents and visual storytelling. Currently, Renan works as a commercial and documentary filmmaker, an expedition climber for The North Face, and a photojournalist for Sony and National Geographic. He’s probably best known for MERU (cinematographer/subject), which won the 2015 Audience Choice Award at Sundance, and the critically acclaimed Sherpa (cinematographer/co-director), which screened at TIFF and Telluride. He’s directed and shot commercial work for major international brands such as Apple, Google, DJI and Nike.
worldsocialmedia.directory/renan-ozturk/
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Rocky Barnes @rocky_barnes
Her fashion is always on point, her girl squad is goals, and her pictures will give you a serious case of wanderlust. It's easy to see why model, Rocky Barnes is so successful. She’s attracted enough attention that she’s partnered with some big brands and inspired tons of followers with her fashion sense. This model has another talent, though, that you might be surprised about. It’s also part of the reason she’s always camera ready. Keep going to learn more about this influencer. Rocky, as she calls herself, is a 31year-old model who got her big break by appearing in a Justin Bieber video back in 2013. She seemed destined for a life in front 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
of the camera, being the daughter of a FOX television stylist who soon caught the eye of various companies. While she still works in front of the camera, her real love is fashion and she isn’t afraid to show it. Her blog and other sites are filled with pictures of herself showing off her favourite pieces, as well as some of her beauty must-haves. This love goes beyond liking clothes. According to an interview with mag.agolde.com, she actually used to customize vintage shirts. She even began selling them to friends, which soon led Rocky to her current job – running her own label and site.
socialmedia.directory/rocky-barnes/
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Sam Schnur @thenaughtyfork
The Naughty Fork had its beginnings as an Instagram page founded by Samantha Schnur in order to showcase her passion for food, drink, and photography. After three years and continued exposure, TNF has grown into a fully licensed digital media news and marketing company that services all entities in the food industry; from local restaurants and hotels to national chains and fortune 500 food and beverage companies.
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We pride ourselves in featuring the best cuisines locally and around the country, in a lighthearted and indulgent manner. Whether you’re selfproclaimed foodie or a professional restauranteur, you’re sure to get your gastronomic fix with us.
worldsocialmedia.directory/sam-schnurthenaughtyfork/
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Sara Escudero @collagevintage
Fashion and travel Instagrammer and blogger behind the brand Collage Vintage. Her photographer was her partner Diego Anciano.
She and Diego, her boyfriend of more than a decade, relocated from Madrid to Los Angeles. She and Patricia Alejos Monzon are both Spanish travel bloggers.
She and her partner founded Collage Vintage in 2009. She studied advertising and graphic design, but left her job in advertising.
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worldsocialmedia.directory/sara-escudero/
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hotel videos from around the world
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world travel influencers platinum category
Senna Relax @sennarelax
“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.�
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adventure | travel | lifestyle | Switzerland
worldsocialmedia.directory/senna-relax/
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@sennarelax Influencers Magazine caught up with Senna Relax for a quick Q&A session.
1. Did you travel in 2020?
Yes, I travelled in January to Finland, then to Saudi Arabia. In February I was in UAE, Bali and Maldives until the beginning of March.
2. Where were you in lockdown?
I stayed in my home country of Switzerland, where we were able to move around.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why?
Lapland in Finland. It was just magical, with a fairytale atmosphere. Add the auroras and it was winter at its best! Seeing reindeers all over my road was a dream! I stayed in famous igloos, resorts and cabins and chased aurora borealis at night in a snowmobile. I loved exploring the Arctic Circle in a car, stopping everywhere I wanted, and I just can’t wait to go there again!
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? I love trying local food everywhere I go, so I don’t especially miss anything! Plus, I always have enough Swiss chocolates with me – that’s something I bring wherever I go!
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Definitely automobile!
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag?
My cameras, drone, chargers, some comfortable clothes and shoes, and of course I always pack some beauty products!
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? It depends for what use. I am sponsored by Canon Switzerland and DJI, so a very good camera and drone may be the best things we have to buy when we travel! Good memory cards have been useful.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021?
Somewhere on an exotic island, maybe Hawaii.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021?
Edinburgh is first on my list, then New York and Singapore.
10. Window or aisle seat?
Window.
11. Where did you grow up?
In Switzerland.
12. What were your holidays like as a child?
Apart from Italy, I didn’t travel much as child.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? It started as curiosity when Instagram showed up. I found that amazing, and after some years I became serious and started to love travelling, taking pictures and being in competition with others!
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? Being appreciated for my work by people all over the world.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? Those from Lapland!
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
When I was on a small airplane flying over Mont Blanc in France. It was awesome but scary at the same time.
18. What place is top of your bucket list? Vietnam.
19. What has 2020 taught you? To be patient and know that we can’t control nature and things!
20. Where will you go in 2021?
I don’t like planning too far in advance. With the coronavirus situation nothing is sure yet, but if I can I’d like to go to some Asian countries like Japan and Vietnam.
16. What’s on your playlist?
Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow...
influencers MAGAZINE
interview
Let it snow, let it snow! We fall under Senna Relax’s spell, the Swiss travel influencer with the most magical Instagram account.
Senna Relax’s posts are bewitching, beguiling. Silver white winters that melt into dreams. Northern Lights shooting lilacs, purples, turquoise
and greens. Log cabins beside frozen lakes. A promise of magic. A memory of the past.
“I am like a child every time I see snow falling...” Senna Relax grew up in Switzerland. He started his Instagram account in 2014, out of curiosity. Now he boasts more than 1.5 million followers. “Winter has become rare in Switzerland, I mean, we don’t have snow everywhere and I really miss the white landscape.” His photos look like paintings. “Everyone has their own story to spread and talk about. I am not an artist but I think that we all have hidden artistry, talents in us, and once we discover them, we shouldn’t hesitate to use them.” His posts are Christmassy too, even though he doesn’t celebrate the holiday. “I don’t, but I love it’s atmosphere all the street lights, food and especially Christmas markets. When I was young, I remember buying New Year postcards and sending them to my family. I found it so joyful just looking at the
“I LOVE WINTER, I FEEL IT IN MY MIND.”
influencers MAGAZINE
interview
pictures and not knowing which ones to choose. I loved it when my parents received postcards too. Now everything is digital it’s lost its magic for me.” So, Senna Relax is bringing the magic back.
One place Senna Relax loves is Lapland, “I’d love to have a cabin and live there at least one month a year. When I see the Northern Lights, I feel happy. They are incredible, amazing, it’s magical, out of this world. I need to go back North again.”
“I want my followers to feel my pictures, to feel as if they’re in the same place, in the same moment. I want them to see through my eyes. I feel so happy when they thank me, when they tell me I’ve made their day.”
Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of Senna’s posts is that snow is fleeting. It’s often a sudden, chance encounter. But it affects our day, wipes slates clean and makes everything beautiful. Snow is also water and water is life.
“I try and make some of my posts exactly like a child’s dream,” like his picture of a red train on a bridge surrounded by snow, it’s otherworldly, haunting. “It’s my childhood memories coming out and wanting to play with trains again!”
“When I see a spot I like, I imagine the photograph instantly. The white, the lights, I take the picture and that’s it, I don’t spend much time editing.” You rarely see Senna in his posts either. He’s somewhat of an enigma.
“I like to be appreciated for my work and of course I love knowing that my account is growing each day. But really I am just a normal person – simple, friendly and helpful to everyone. I am not a fake and I don’t play any games. I don’t like planning far into the future or worrying about the past either.” But he is a master of dreams. “My dream is that once I get old, I live in a cosy house with my wife, high on a hill with a sea view. I’m sitting in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot tea, watching snow falling through a window. The light reflects on the snowflakes and we remember lovely times gone by.” Senna Relax paints living pictures, sprinkling glitter and stardust across the wintry skies. Senna, the snow man.
“WHEN I SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, I FEEL HAPPY. THEY ARE INCREDIBLE, AMAZING, IT’S MAGICAL, OUT OF THIS WORLD.”
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers platinum category
Sjana Elise Earp @sjanaelise
Sjana, but you can call me SJ. I’m a 22-year old yoga-doing, adventure-seeking, sunshineloving, hug-giving Aussie girl. I believe that ALL women deserve to feel empowered and confident in their skin. Through my own experience, I have learned that yoga is an invaluable tool for the enrichment of the lives of women of all ages. Initially, yoga helped me through some of the hardest moments in my life. And nowadays yoga continues to help me to feel stronger, healthier and happier each and every day. My mission and purpose is to assist others in finding that same enlightenment and to help them discover the 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
countless benefits that yoga can provide in life. For me, good health is all about balance. To achieve this balance, my programs focus on a holistic approach to wellbeing. Let me step you through the sequences, or you can set your own pace. Yoga has the potential to be so much more than just a workout. Together, we’ll work on transforming your body and your mind, strengthening your spirit and making your life even more amazing!
worldsocialmedia.directory/sjana-elise-earp/
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@sjanaelise Influencers Magazine caught up with Sjana Elise Earp to ask her about her life as an influencer.
1. Did you travel in 2020? I did actually! But only pre-Covid.
2. Where were you in lockdown? Newcastle, Australia (my hometown!)
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? Anytime I go to Hawaii… There’s just something about it that feels like home.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? Acai bowls! Unless where I’m going has them, then I don’t miss anything!
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Plane or train.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? Cameras, bikinis, body oil/moisturizer, denim shorts, a bunch of linen goods and my passport!
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? My diary! So I can keep track of where I’m meant to be and when haha! (I’m a total mess otherwise!).
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021?
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I didn’t. It kind of happened to me haha! It wasn’t “a thing” when I began, so it unfolded organically and I was called an “influencer” before I even knew what it was!
Probably Tahiti, or Western Australia.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer?
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021?
The connections and people I’ve met and friendships I’ve made!! 10,000%
Mmm, it wouldn’t matter what city I was in, if I needed a break I’d get OUT of the city and immerse myself in nature somewhere!
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? The one I’m yet to take…
10. Window or aisle seat? Window.
16. What’s on your playlist?
11. Where did you grow up?
Acoustic covers… And Ziggy Alberts, Juke Ross, Racoon Racoon, Angus & Julia Stone…
Merewether, NSW Australia (little beach town!).
12. What were your holidays like as a child? We went camping or to cool nature places! Mostly by the beach.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? A crash in a taxi, and very very sketchy flights in teeny tiny planes haha!
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 18. What place is top of your bucket list? Tahiti!
19. What has 2020 taught you? Stillness.
20. Where will you go in 2021? Wherever the wind takes me!
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers platinum category
Tara Whiteman @taramilktea
Tara Whiteman is a Creative from Sydney, Australia. Her work is dedicated to documenting her daily lifestyle as Tara Milk Tea. This mostly includes her latest travel adventures, showcased through food, places and people. Her images are usually portrayed through a kaleidoscope of colour, as she seeks out the most beautiful and brightest places around the world. Currently twenty-five years old, she recently completed her Honours degree in Design from The University of New South Wales, all while travelling and working full time on projects with clients, as well as managing her lifestyle blog and Instagram. 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
She has a particular interest in the travel, food and lifestyle genres and can be found working with clients from a wide range of fields from Canon to Tiffany & Co. She has also been a member of Qantas’ exclusive Q Collective team since 2016. Tara’s goal has always been about living life to the fullest, and creating her own happiness, which is why she has pursued entrepreneurial roles, and chased what she loves doing from a young age. Having grown her online audience to over one million people, she hopes to inspire others to do the same.
socialmedia.directory/tara-whiteman/
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world travel influencers platinum category
Thomas Peschak @thomaspeschak
Thomas P. Peschak is an assignment photographer for National Geographic Magazine. He is a Founding/Associate Director of the Manta Trust, and a senior fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers. He has been named as one of the 40 most influential nature photographers in the world. Originally trained as a marine biologist specializing in human– wildlife conflict, he retired from science fieldwork in 2004. He became an wildlife photojournalist after realizing that he could have a greater conservation impact through photographs than statistics. His work focuses on some of the 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
most critical marine conservation issues of our time. Thomas has written and photographed five books: Currents of Contrast, Great White Shark, Wild Seas Secret Shores and Lost World. His latest book Sharks and People was released in 2013 and chronicles the relationship between people and sharks around the world. He is a multiple winner in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards and received World Press Photo Awards for his work in2011 and 2013. In 2015, he gave a TED talk, Dive into an ocean photographer’s world, aboard Mission Blue II, hosted by TED Prize winner Sylvia Earle.
worldsocialmedia.directory/thomas-peschak/
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world travel influencers platinum category
Tim Laman @timlaman
Tim Laman is a field biologist and wildlife photojournalist. He credits his childhood in Japan, where he had ready access to the mountains and oceans, for his strong interest in exploring nature, both above and below water. Tim first went to the rain forests of Borneo in 1987 and the AsiaPacific region has been the major focus for both his scientific research and photography ever since. His pioneering research in the rain forest canopy in Borneo led to a PhD from Harvard and his first National Geographic article in 1997. Since then, he has pursued his passion for exploring wild places and documenting littleknown and endangered wildlife by 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
becoming a regular contributor to National Geographic. He has 21 articles to his credit to date, all of which have had a conservation message. Some have focused on endangered species such as Orangutans, Proboscis Monkeys, or Hornbills, while others, such as a series of articles on Conservation International’s Biodiversity Hotspots, have highlighted regions under intense pressure. Tim has also published more than a dozen scientific articles related to rainforest ecology and birdlife.
worldsocialmedia.directory/tim-laman/
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world travel influencers platinum category
VuThĂŠara Kham @vutheara
VuTheara Kham is a french photographer of cambodian origins, based in Paris. He is fascinated by the light, street photography and urban landscape. He discovered photography thanks to Instagram in January 2011. It's in Paris that he takes his first photographics steps with his smartphone. VuTheara likes to play with new perspective and point of view. His pictures capture the emotion of the moment. He published a book Point Of Vuth in La Martinière Publishing House in 2013. Since adolescence, he has cultivated his passion for art, music and skateboarding by developing a particular interest in graphic design. On his arrival in 1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
Paris in 2007, he began working as a web designer until 2011 when he discovered photography through Instagram, where today he is one of the most popular profiles with over a miilion followers. Known for light and graphics in his compositions, his style of photography is defined by street scenes in Paris and around the world.
worldsocialmedia.directory/vutheara-kham/
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world travel influencers platinum category
Xenia Adonts @xeniaadonts
Xenia Adonts, formerly known as XeniaOverdose — due to her ‘oversharing’ approach on all things fashion and style, tops our charts having generated $1,243,437 in MIV during the SS19 schedule alone. Her recent (and active) involvement in all 4 major Fashion Weeks, starting with Tory Burch in NYC, has proven to keep her 1.2 million followers engaged as she brought them with her to the shows, soirées, and everywhere in between from London, to Milan and Paris. Hailing from Hamburg, Xenia is moving to Paris at the end of the month to continue her pursuits in the city of lights. Xenia Adonts is one of the best known
1 MILLION PLUS FOLLOWERS
trendsetters of the moment and was listed as the #1 fashion influencer of the past fashion weeks by Launchmetrics.
Despite her tremendous success, the blogger has remained grounded and is still super likeable. Since Xenias life is very busy as an influencer, she is rarely at home. Whenever she comes back to Hamburg, she spends her time with her family. Since her mother always brings her to the airport and picks her up again with a freshly made fruit salad, Xenia recently interrupted an appointment in Berlin to do the same for her mum. Cute!
worldsocialmedia.directory/xenia-adonts/
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sporttv.tube
sport videos from around the world
Explore over 200 different locations around the world in an easily digestible and fun format. Explore Group is the world's leading destination and lifestyle multi-channel content network. Explore your next travel destination now.
Explore
750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
World Travel Influencers
Gold Category 75ok - 999k followers
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers gold category
Brian Skerry @brianskerry
Brian Skerry is a photojournalist specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine covering a wide range of subjects and stories. In 2014 he was one of five photographers named as a National Geographic Photography Fellow. In 2015 he was named a Nikon Ambassador and in June 2017 he was awarded the title of Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year. For NGM, Brian has covered a wide range of stories, from the harp seal’s struggle to survive in frozen
750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
waters to the alarming decrease in the world’s fisheries to dolphin intelligence, all cover stories. During 2016 NGM published three consecutive feature stories by Brian about predatory sharks. His cover story in the February 2017 issue of NGM, focuses on protecting special underwater ecosystems in US waters. During his coverage for this story Brian produced the first images of a US President underwater. He is currently at work on his 28th story for NGM.
worldsocialmedia.directory/brian-skerry/
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world travel influencers gold category
Brit Manuela @britmanuela
Model who has been represented by Los Angeles Wilhelmina modelling agency. She has gone on to amass over 700,000 followers on Instagram for her bikini and lingerie-related modelling photos.
750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
worldsocialmedia.directory/brit-manuela/
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world travel influencers gold category
Callum Snape @calsnape
Callum Snape is an adventure and travel freelance photographer from Vancouver, BC. His work is a reflection of his passions and is layered with landscapes, lifestyle, adventure, sports, and the personalities that find meaning from the same sources. In addition to capturing beautiful
750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
images, Callum amassed one of the largest digital audiences within the outdoor and travel industry in Canada, of over 970,000+ followers. Allowing him to share the stories of his adventures and travel with everyone that follows.
worldsocialmedia.directory/callum-snape/
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world travel influencers gold category
Chelsea Yamase @chelseakauai
I’m a Hawaii-based creative and deeply curious human here practicing courage. I come from a small island in the Pacific and I’m still not quite sure how I got to live a life bigger than I ever dreamed of. For the last 3 years I’ve been hiking, diving, surfing, slacklining, and photographing my way through 53 countries and counting. I’m proud to be supported by some of my favourite brands like Canon USA, Adobe, andgive preference to creating content for companies doing good.
750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
Self-improvement, outdoor adventure, and creativity make me SUPER excited and I get to share some of my journey exploring all three bothon here and on my instagram.
socialmedia.directory/chelsea-yamase/
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world travel influencers gold category
Jacob Riglin @jacob
750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
Jacob Riglin, 23, from Richmond, London, first picked up a camera as a 16-year-old college student and hasn't looked back since.
'I think for me, the thing I love about photography is the power of being able to capture a moment that wow's people.
He now creates stunning images from around the world on behalf of brands like Amazon and BMW for his 896,000 Instagram followers. Images show Jacob and his girlfriend of two-years, Hayley Vincent, in a series of stunning destinations the world including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India and even sat together in a helicopter over New York City's skyline.
'All of my photography is geared towards celebrating the beauty in the world, I want people to feel inspired and excited when they look at my photos. I also want them to see how delicate and precious the world is.'
worldsocialmedia.directory/jacobriglin/
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world travel influencers gold category
Jessica Kahawaty @jessicakahawaty
Miss World Australia 2012 who later went on to finish second in the Miss Universe competition of that same year. She competed in the 2010 Miss Lebanon pageant before becoming Miss World Australia. She is a TV Host, beauty queen, model, charity worker, and most recently the face and presenter for Yahoo Maktoob's new entertainment shows, 'omg! NOW' and 'omg! NUJOOM'. She was born into a Lebanese family in Sydney, New South Wales.
commercials for known brands such as Maybelline Cosmetics for India and Lexus cars for Australia. She has also been featured in major catwalks, magazines, and photo-shoots around the world. While focusing on her career, Kahawaty also aids in community service and conducts her own charity events. In 2007 she raised money for charities in both Australia and Lebanon, most notably Lilla community and Charity: Water.
Jessica has studied a combined degree of Bachelor of Laws and Business with a major in Finance in Sydney. In her acting career, she has filmed various 750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
worldsocialmedia.directory/jessica-kahawaty/
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world travel influencers gold category
Mattias Klum @mattiasklumofficial
Mattias Klum was born in Uppsala, Sweden in 1968 and started taking pictures in his teens. He has worked full-time as a freelance photographer since 1986, and as a cinematographer and director on numerous film and television projects since 1994. In an artistic way that is entirely his own, Klum describes and portrays animals, plants, and natural and cultural settings in the form of articles, books, films, lectures and exhibitions.
750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
A coveted lecturer worldwide, Klum's work has been published in a large number of international magazines, such as National Geographic, Wildlife Conservation, Audubon, GEO, Terre Sauvage, Stern, Der Spiegel, and the New York Times.
worldsocialmedia.directory/mattias-klum/
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world travel influencers gold category
Naomi-Jane Adams @bookonin
Book On In Luxury Collection was founded by Naomi-Jane Adams, based between Oxford and London in the UK after over a decade of working in Travel, Media & Finance. So far, Naomi has visited over 40 countries. However, for her it’s not about the number of places, and she’ll often return to many of them over and over again – a sign that she has built up good working relationships with Travel Partners in these places, which she feels resonate with her brand and audience.
750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
Naomi is asked by travel companies, hotels, tourism boards to take press trips where she is paid for social media marketing and producing content for Social first. Naomi also works with fashion and lifestyle brands to produce content for various campaigns that she thinks fit in with her lifestyle and travels. (All of her paid and sponsored trips and brand partnerships are clearly disclosed on all of her Blog and Social posts)
worldsocialmedia.directory/naomi-jane-adams/
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@naomijaneadams Here Influencers Magazine catches up with Naomi-Jane Adams for a quick Q&A session.
1. Did you travel in 2020? Yes.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? My phone is my life!
2. Where were you in lockdown? Home, in the Cotswolds, UK.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? Seychelles, my forever bucket list destination.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? Seychelles and maybe a safari.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? New York.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? Sunday roast.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile?
10. Window or aisle seat? Depends on the aircraft, layout, class of seat and duration of the flight!
11. Where did you grow up?
Depends where I’m going, but I can pack very quick if need be, so phone, make-up & cosmetics, chargers, bikinis, loungewear & hoodies, handbags & shoes, and beachwear or coats.
The bucket list destinations I’ve visited and working with luxury fashion & beauty brands.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? Wearing a Celia Kritharioti gown at Four Seasons Athens and also my reel wearing a Giambattista Valli gown at Browns Hotel in London.
16. What’s on your playlist? It’s ever changing.
In the UK.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
12. What were your holidays like as a child?
Being caught up in the November 2015 Paris attacks and then some stalker situations when I’ve been solo travelling.
Yacht!
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag?
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer?
Well-travelled domestically and summer holidays around Europe.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I’ve been working in travel PR & blogging for 20 years, so I was one of the first.
18. What place is top of your bucket list? Currently Bora Bora.
19. What has 2020 taught you? That I don’t actually need to travel so much! I had already planned to
INFLUENCERS
Q&A
travel a lot less as I was burning out and not getting to enjoy it as a I once did, say five years ago. I want to travel less and truly appreciate those trips rather than ending up in December and not remembering where I have been because it’s been one trip after another.
20. Where will you go in 2021? Who knows... it doesn’t look like this Covid situation is going away anytime soon and with Brexit... we will see.
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers gold category
Sam Kolder @samkolder
Sam Kolder is a popular Instagram star celebrity, a Canadian filmmaker, video editor, and photographer. He was hired to be the head of the video of Beautiful Destinations. As of March 2019, Beautiful Destinations Instagram account had over 12 million followers, while Sam gained over 1.4 million followers on his own personal account. Sam has a huge fan base all over the internet.
750K TO 999K FOLLOWERS
socialmedia.directory/sam-kolder/
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socialtv.tube
social videos from around the world
focus on social media
The most important apps of the decade From games to social media to dating: These 25 apps had the most impact on our lives in the last 10 years. CREDIT: CNET | Eric Franklin
In the last decade, apps (and by association, phones) have become an almost essential part of our lives. Since the iOS App Store and Google Play launched in 2008 with what seemed like mostly novelty titles, they've grown to include millions of apps that help us communicate, meet new people, listen to music and kill pigs with birds. Sure, we still use our phones to make calls sometimes, but apps are so popular there are now apps that tell you how much time you spend using apps on your phone. Also, technically, you use an app for actually make the phone calls. As part of CNET's Decade in Review here are our picks for the impactful apps of the 2010s. I crowdsourced this list -- some of the apps on it didn't even exist as the decade began, a few did though -from every CNET editor and then
curated it further from there. The result is the list below in no particular order. Note that in the case of very similar apps, I combined the most popular ones in that category, instead of having individual entries. And, sure, there are hundreds of impactful and important apps not on this list. If you feel we didn't include one of your favourite apps, put it in the comments and I'll be sure to chime in as well.
Instagram What is it? Instagram allows you to share photos and videos. Initial release: 2010 Why it's on the list: Instagram has changed the way we think about photos and, for many of us, altered
our eating habits (for a time I couldn't start eating my dinner until I captured its image perfectly). It's also become an incredibly effective marketing tool over the years and continues to grow, as it has now reached 1 billion users per month. I think the reason it's still popular is because it continues to evolve in meaningful ways. Adding things like Stories and Boomerang over the last few years has kept it feeling fresh and adopting these features is a great way to continue to expand its user base. While celebrity influencers continue to make us believe they're actual living impossibly extravagant lives in order to sell us products. and many people still behave completely irresponsibly in order to capture that "perfect pic," Instagram is still one of the most simple and entertaining social platforms out there.
Twitter What is it? A social media platform for posting text, pictures and videos. Initial release: 2010 Why it's on the list: Twitter has completely changed the way the world communicates. From the Arab Spring, where protesters used Twitter to not only coordinate, but also voice their message to the world, to world leaders who can
immediately send a message to every connected person on the planet, it's clear that communication will never be the same. In recent weeks Twitter has been successful in clamping down on hate speech, misinformation and fake news pertaining to the transfer of power over to President Biden in the USA, it's still one of the best and most informative social networks.
Facebook What is it? A social media and networking platform Initial release: 2010 Why it's on the list: Like Twitter, Facebook's debut predated the decade, but it's become the premiere social media platform in the world, with nearly 2.5 billion active users. It
let you reconnect with old friends and family members across the world, and you were inundated with memes, cat videos, requests for Farmville and news, both real and not so much. After the short boom of MySpace, Facebook popularized social media with the mainstream. However, amid its user privacy scandals and influx of fake news, the platform has fallen under harsh scrutiny since the 2016 election.
to get exactly what you were looking for. LOL! If only human beings were such simple creatures! BWAHAHAHAA!!
Tinder/Bumble/Grindr
Initial release: 2007 (Google Maps), 2012 (Apple Maps)
What are they? Dating apps, popularized by their simple filtering mechanic. Initial release: 2012 (Tinder), 2014 (Bumble), Grindr (2009) Why they're on the list: Never before has the act of finding someone, no matter your needs and wants, been as easy (in the case of Tinder and Bumble, swipe right on a potential mate's pic if you're interested. If not, swipe left.) People use the apps for everything from quick hookups to casual dating to looking for long-term relationships. Grindr, a dating app geared towards the LGBTQ community, was the first to debut, but Tinder profoundly changed the dating scene. Suddenly you could filter your choices almost instantly
Google Maps/ Apple Maps What are they? The two most popular map/directions apps in the world.
Why they're on the list: I honestly don't travel without using one of these. I have a horrible sense of direction, I didn't start driving until I was in my 30s, and I still don't know most streets by name. Seriously, I'm terrible and need these. But I digress. These apps took Mapquest to its logical evolutionary conclusion. Now you can travel anywhere in the world without ever needing to know exactly where a place is. Just follow the directions like you're playing GTA or something and even see what your destination looks like from the outside. Although I personally prefer Google Maps, Apple Maps has vastly improved since its disastrous launch a few years back.
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focus on social media
Spotify What is it? A music streaming service Initial release: 2011 Why it's on the list: I remember when Spotify debuted in 2011. It seemed to come out of nowhere and further changed (you'll see this word a lot on this list if you haven't already) the ever-evolving music industry. It felt a lot like the original version of Napster, only legal, but still
free. Too free for some, as some artists like Taylor Swift have in the past pulled all of their music from the service. Swift eventually returned to the streaming giant. At its launch, Spotify enjoyed a huge 50 million-song library that dwarfed those of its competitors at the time. Spotify eventually led Apple to create its own music service called Apple Music in 2015, which now also has access to over 50 million songs.
Slack What is it? An instant messaging platform Initial release: 2013 Why it's on the list: What makes Slack any different from a billion other IM clients in the last 25 years?
It's mostly its integration with other apps and the way it can start to feel like the nucleus for everything happening at your work. These days it's a toss-up over which I open first in the morning: Slack or email. Slack is like email, part 2. But, it's not just useful for work. As family life gets busier, families are using Slack to communicate, which is weird but also weirdly appealing as my own family starts to grow. But
like every tool, it comes down to how you use it -- the debate over whether Slack improves or impairs productivity continues.
Uber/Lyft What are they? Order a rideshare on your phone to your exact location and pay automatically through your credit card. Initial release: 2011 (Uber), 2012 (Lyft) Why they're on the list: I remember four years ago when my 16-year old nice visited me in San Francisco from Minneapolis. She'd never heard of Uber, and the whole thing kind of creeped her out. Now, I don't think she can imagine travelling any other way. Of course, the convenience has not come without cost. Both Uber and Lyft great have faced lawsuits
over alleged sexual assaults by drivers, cities around the world have attempted to regulate them, and drivers have battled for better pay. And while all those additional cars on the street can choke traffic in cities, there's no denying the effect these apps have had on the way we travel.
Venmo What is it? Allows you to make digital payments to other individuals.
Initial release: 2012 Why it's on the list: As a person that rarely carries cash, I could never easily pay my share when out to dinner with a group of friends. That why Venmo and other apps like it have been a godsend -- with them I don't constantly feel like a deadbeat. You can pay for stuff for friends like movie tickets, and now they have zero excuse not to pay you right back, even before the movie starts! We're deadbeats no more!
Angry Birds What is it? A game where you launch birds at structures in an attempt to kill pigs Initial release: 2009 Why it's on the list: In its early days,
Angry Birds was so popular, I convinced myself I had to like it. Ultimately, when I played it I didn't, but its impact on the expectations of how popular mobile game could be is unprecedented. Two movies and plenty of versions of the game later, Angry Birds is still a very popular franchise and has continued to evolve with the times, most recently with Angry Birds AR. Again, not my cup of tea, but many still enjoy taking a sip.
Candy Crush Saga What is it? A match-three puzzle game. Initial release: 2012 Why it's on the list: I knew this was something special when my wife, who isn't a gamer, not only couldn't put it down, but also spent money playing it. It took her six years to finally move on to Two Dots. I've never played Candy Crush Saga and probably won't -- the visuals are just a bit too saccharine for me -- but it's one of the most popular tilematching games of all time. You can pick it up quickly, it has a satisfying gameplay mechanic, and it's something you could do while listening to books (to paraphrase my wife). Despite her falling off, the game's overall popularity has shown no signs of waning.
PokĂŠmon Go What is it? The first big AR game based in the PokĂŠmon universe Initial release: 2016 Why it's on the list: It was a phenom when it was released in 2016. I tried playing from my house, but there was nothing to find in my little suburban neighborhood, so I quickly gave up as I was too self-conscious to play in the city. The game eventually lost most of its player
base, but is still incredibly popular, having crossed 1 billion downloads earlier this year. Its formula for success was simple: Combine an already successful franchise with a new technology with heavy social ties. It's worked quite well.
Vine What is it? Video platform that let you make videos up to six seconds long and share them. Initial release: 2013 Why it's on the list: After an exciting start in 2012, Vine was discontinued by its owner, Twitter, in 2016 amid growing competition, especially from Instagram. But during its life, Vine quickly popularized the short-form video app. It gave you the ability to make six-second videos and
immediately post them, which (at the time) was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen in an app. I dove right in, experimenting with some weird techniques, picking up others and attempting to develop storytelling skills. Like with most things, I was done and ready to move on after a couple of months, but Vine continued to be a hit, leading to the birth of its evolutionary cousin, TikTok.
Facebook Messenger/ WhatsApp What are they? Two hugely popular chat platforms Initial release: 2011 (Facebook Messenger), WhatsApp (2009) Why they're on the list: They're both Facebook products and essentially do the same thing, however differently. Facebook stripped Messenger from the Facebook app in 2011 and made it its own thing. It's incredibly popular and the preferred way to communicate for a lot of people, especially if you're on Facebook but don't have someone's number or you want to forgo texting. WhatsApp is the lighter version that uses less data and encrypts its messages end-to-end (user to user),
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focus on social media
which is more secure than Messenger's solution of sending messages to a server before it gets sent to the recipient. It's also incredibly popular, especially in Asian countries.
Netflix What is it: A video-streaming app, focused on original content. Initial release: 2010
Why it's on the list: Netflix is the premier video-streaming app. With it, you get access to Netflix's evergrowing number of original movies and series, like Stranger Things and Narcos.The iOS and Android apps allow you to download most shows or movies to your phone. Despite heavy and growing competition, Netflix is still the streaming app every other one is measured by. At least for now.
Snapchat What is it? A social media and messaging app where videos and messages disappear after a time. Initial release: 2011 Why it's on this list: Snapchat launched in 2011, but its popularity hit the stratosphere between 2013
and 2015, after adding video sharing, Snapchat Stories, ephemeral text messaging and (most importantly) the rainbow vomit feature. It allowed people to post short videos that would expire and be "gone forever" after a set time. I have to admit, as a chronically old fuddy-duddy I never saw the appeal of making videos or writing texts that disappear after awhile, but that's just me. I guess I'm a hoarder at heart and I want
everything I make to be available for access forever.
Google Pay/Apple Pay What are they? Mobile payment apps that let you pay at retail or online using only your phone, tablet or smartwatch. Initial release: 2015 (Google Pay), 2014 (Apple Pay) Why they're on this list: Being able to pay for things with your phone seemed like such a novel concept a few years back, but now it's my preferred way to pay and usually works seamlessly. It seems like such a small thing, but I'm always looking for that Apple Pay logo. It's just an extra level of convenience that I really appreciate.
Google Assistant/ Siri/Alexa What are they? The top voice assistants on the market. Initial release: 2010 (Siri), 2016 (Google Assistant), 2014 (Alexa) Why they're on this list: Siri was the first big voice assistant when it debuted in 2011, but other options that followed have outpaced it. (Google Assistant, in particular, is
smarter and more intuitive.) I use an Apple HomePod with Siri and am constantly disappointed by the fact that Siri isn't smarter. I'm hoping that changes soon. Having to say "Hey, Siri" for every command just gets old fast. It's important to remember that, as exciting as this technology continues to be, the simple fact is that your voice assistants are recording you and as a result, Google, Apple and Amazon (with Alexa) have now either put a halt to having humans listen to you in the "privacy" of your own home or allow you to opt out of this recording. It's still disconcerting though.
Amazon What is it? The app for the world's largest online retailer.
Why it's on this list: If you raised a young child without the help of the Amazon app, you're a god in my book. I've used Amazon since I bought my first DVD some time in 2000. The Matrix or maybe X-Men? Possibly Ninja Scroll? I'm not sure, but I've not stopped shopping since, and I likely won't anytime soon. Now, with an app it's even easier and faster -- so fast that I don't even need to add a task to my to-do list. When I'm juggling an uncooperative
toddler with a 1-year old who's doing his best to jump head-first off a couch, the ability to take 15 seconds from catching diving kids to order them new vitamins is huge -- it makes my life that much easier.
Skype/Facetime/Zoom What are they? Real-time videobased phones calls Initial release: 2009 (Skype), 2010 (Facetime) Why they're on this list: This is that sci-fi video-phone future that's even better than what any sci-fi film could have predicted, obviously because none of them predicted the rise of the smartphone. I don't use it a lot, but the times when I do are special, like if I'm away from my kids and want to see their faces. It's not like
you see on The Jetsons, but the fact that I can see my sons when I'm away on business, or even a co-worker a thousand miles away, is amazing.
Fortnite What is it? The game that took over your kid's/nephew's/cousin's life Initial release: 2017 Why it's on this list: Fortnite has had the type of cultural impact few
games, if any, ever achieve. From the whole Fortnite dance debacle to the fact that the winner of the 2019 Fortnite World Cup was awarded $3 million, Fortnite is a huge, unstoppable pop culture juggernaut that shows no sign of slowing down. As long as the developers keep the game fresh by doing things like ending it, its popularity should continue for some time.
Uber Eats/Postmates/ Grubhub/DoorDash What are they? Order food for delivery, even if the restaurant in question does not itself deliver. Initial release: 2015 (Uber Eats), 2011 (Postmates), 2009 (Grubhub), 2013 (DoorDash)
Why they're on this list: I remember the frustration of wanting food from one of my favourite restaurants and seeing its "No deliveries" sign. That now feels like a thing of the distant past. Sure, eating out all the time isn't cheap or always healthy, but I like to have the option. If I want a barbecue lunch, but I don't have 20 minutes to go get it, it's comforting to know there are people out there who don't mind doing it for me... for a price.
Google Photos What is it? A photo storage app for both Android and iOS. Initial release: 2015 Why it's on the list: I imagine your big question is, why did Google Photos make the list and not the Photos app and iCloud on iOS? Well, as good as the Photos app is on iOS - and it has definitely improved lately -- the app isn't compatible with Android. Google Photos, though, works on Android and iOS. It also has more cloud storage than iCloud, and its search feature is more robust and useful. You can search for a word that appears in a picture or even by pronouns -- just in case you want to find your friend's baby's pictures, but can't remember when you took them.
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Discover Dubai
www.discoverdubai.co
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World Travel Influencers
Silver Category 500k to 749k followers
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world travel influencers silver category
Alen Palander @alenpalander
Alen Palander is a Toronto-based Creative Director and Photographer. Throughout his education and work life in Urban Design and Architecture, Alen dabbled in photography and filmmaking as a hobby, with no formal training in the field. Amassing a fan base in the hundreds of thousands worldwide, Alen's brand and social media platforms grew, new and exciting opportunities began to unfold, and he quickly realized that his hobby had become his livelihood. Alen now works with some of the world’s largest brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Air Canada, Canon and more.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Alen draws much of his inspiration for his visual pieces from architecture, design, and travel to distant locales. With the propensity to pick up the camera and capture the world at a moment's notice, his lust for creating propels his perspective and represents something much bigger as he continues to seek the extraordinary in the ordinary.
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Andy Mann @andy_mann
For over a decade Andy has been a forerunner in the world of adventure film and conservation photography. He is an experienced climber, diver, arctic explorer and award-winning filmmaker whose imagery is helping tell the story of our rapidly changing planet, documenting expeditions on all 7 continents for National Geographic Magazine, Sea Legacy, National Geographic’s Pristine Seas, Wildlife Conservation Society and more.
Andy is the co-founder and director at 3 Strings Productions, the commercial and documentary film studio in Boulder, CO and works with clients such as Red Bull, Toyota, The North Face, National Geographic and more. He also a founding member of the Sea Legacy Collective and senior fellow with Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier.
His imagery is remarkably memorable, reminding us how the emotion of an image can touch our spirit.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
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Ashley Galvin @ashleygalvinyoga
Ashley Galvin is a yoga instructor based in Southern California. She is known around the world for her strength and flexibility, and she constantly inspires others with her yoga practice. Ashley spent her childhood between the beaches and mountains of California. Inspired by the healthy lifestyle of her parents, she embarked on a journey to learn more about nutrition and the benefits of active living. That path led her to her first yoga class in 2009, where she fell in love with the practice.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Determined to help empower others through yoga, she began teaching in 2011 and has since taught workshops, retreats, and classes all over the world. Her strong, dynamic flows help cultivate body awareness, empower others to embrace their unique gifts, and give students a deep understanding of their yoga practice. Ashley teaches workshops, retreats, and flow classes world wide, as well as on Alo Moves.
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foodtv.tube
food videos from around the world
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Benjamin Hardman @benjaminhardman
Benjamin is an Australian freelance landscape photographer based in Iceland. Benjamin’s fine-art works encapsulate the North’s most obscure landscapes – the barren, cold and volatile environments that are inhabited by colossal ice structures, carved volcanic mountains and resilient wildlife. Benjamin divides his time between a range of photographic assignments, guiding and solo exploration, whilst utilising social media as a platform to share his experiences and perspectives on life and nature in the North.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Benjamin's specific works on glaciers aim to convey the fragility and transitory intricacies of glacial ice amidst the current period of accelerated retraction and a changing global climate.
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Bertie Gregory @bertiegregory
I am a 25-year-old wildlife filmmaker, photographer and presenter. In July 2014, I graduated in Zoology with First Class Honours from the University of Bristol. The next day, I boarded a plane to begin assisting Steve Winter in South Africa on assignment for National Geographic Magazine. Following this baptism of fire, the project evolved into a television program. My task was to film Steve as he attempted to photograph the urban leopards of Mumbai and the jungle leopards of Sri Lanka. This one hour special premiered in the US on Nat Geo WILD in January 2016.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
In 2015, I was named the Scientific Exploration Society Zenith Explorer of the year and a National Geographic Young Explorer. With these grants, I aimed to track down and film the illusive coastal wolf on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. After some very sweaty pitches, this project then became my first solo assignment for National Geographic as they commissioned it to become their first online wildlife series. This 16part series premiered August 2016.
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Christina Tan @sassychris1
Christina Tan is a luxury travel photographer with an extensive global passport. She previously worked in the fashion industry, and with that career path, was able to travel the world. It was in this business that she discovered her true passion: travel photography. Her connections in the fashion industry allowed her to turn her passion into a full-time career, working with tourism boards, hotels and hot-spot destinations all over the globe. She keeps for her instagram feed and website chock full beautiful images, travel tips, and must-sees all across Asia, the Middle east, USA and Europe. 500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Based in Indonesia, Christina works closely with these tourism boards to ensure the content put forth is the most desirable, accessible and beautiful it can be. In addition to working with the tourism boards, her work carries such prestige that she has also blessed to do a collaboration with many luxury hotel brands. Whether you prefer luxury travel destination when planning your next trip, or simply admiring the jaw-dropping images she puts forth, Christina Tan is one to look out for.
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twenty questions
@sassychris1 Influencers Magazine asks Christina Tan about being an influencer.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021?
Winter at Tantora festival trip to AlUla, Saudi Arabia because it was somewhere new and exciting for me. The landscape was out of this world, and the activities and accommodation put together by the organiser were superb.
London.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most?
11. Where did you grow up?
10. Window or aisle seat? Aisle.
Jakarta, Indonesia.
Indonesian food.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Train whenever possible.
1. Did you travel in 2020? Yes I did. I went to Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and USA right before the pandemic. Then I only went to Bali in August and November.
2. Where were you in lockdown? I was in my home town, Jakarta, Indonesia.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? It’s really hard to choose one! If I have to choose it would be the
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? Five minutes will be enough for me to throw some basic t-shirts, pants, jackets, socks, sneakers, chargers and my make-up kit in a bag.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? My iPhone 11 Max Pro.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? Bali.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? We went on a road trip to the nearby mountain to get some fresh air almost every weekend. My dad likes to swim and he would always go to the same hotel in the mountain to do so. Afterwards we would spend the afternoon at a villa having lunch, then get some rest before heading back to Jakarta.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? It was natural because photography and travel are my passion. I wanted to share the joy showing places I go. I wanted to showcase my work.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer?
INFLUENCERS
Q&A To have some of my work featured in Forbes Travel Guide, Travel+Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler. To be invited and the first influencer to attend the prestigious “Verified”, the annual event of Forbes Travel Guide in Las Vegas where they award the best luxury hotel/ spa/ restaurant in the world.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? The ones taken in AlUla and New York.
16. What’s on your playlist? Right now: W (feat Gunna) by Koffee, Gunna, All songs by Odesza, Khalid & Daniel Caesar, and SZA.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? When I went to Eltz Castle in Germany in the middle of the night – it was pitch dark and the sounds of nature scared me!
18. What place is top of your bucket list? Nowhere for now.
19. What has 2020 taught you? Health and family are the most important things, above all else.
20. Where will you go in 2021? Most probably around Indonesia, and if possible London, Belize and Mexico, but if my Schengen visa application is open I would love to go back to two of my favourite countries: Switzerland and Italy.
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Daniel Ernst @daniel_ernst
Daniel is a 29 year old self taught freelance photographer from Frankfurt, Germany. His work as a photo-creator and story-teller takes him to many remote places around the world, always reflecting his passions. Inspired by nature, his work mainly focuses on the outdoors, adventure and lifestyle. To offer a documentation of his travels on a daily basis, he started using the social media platform Instagram.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
'With my photography and stories I want to inspire people, causing a desire, a motivation to leave the rush behind, escape routine, go outdoors, explore and experience nature. We are fortunate to be presented with many opportunities in this world, it's just about making them into reality.'
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Emmet Sparling @emmett_sparling
Since graduating from high school, Emmett has seen more corners of the world and had more heart stopping adventures than most of us will see in our lifetimes. He might be found hanging from a helicopter over a Hawaiian volcano, sledding down a Swiss glacier at sunset, making friends with Alpacas in the mountains of Peru, capturing sunrise over a misty coconut plantation in Bali, exploring the pristine sand dunes of South Africa, being dropped deep into a cave in Java, exploring the ocean floor in a mini submarine or waist deep in the water on a starry night on Bowen Island.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
By sharing these amazing experiences with gorgeous photography and stunning videos, Emmett now makes his living as one of Instagram’s fastest growing adventure travel photographer/videographers.
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Georgia Gibbs @georgiagibbs_
Georgia Gibbs, who hails from Perth, is one of of the modeling game's most in-demand faces, has mastered reality TV (as contestant on Australia's Next Top Model), the pageant circuit (a Miss Universe Australia 2014 finalist), and is currently one half of a beautiful people power couple (with Liverpool soccer player Danny Ings). Maybe that's why her Instagram feed oozes nothing but positive vibes, whether she's sharing beachfront snaps (in a bikini, of course), during a date night, or behindthe-scenes shots from her latest gig. She's got an arsenal of mantras at the ready to deploy and likes to keep things equally 100 in the comments section. Season 8 contestant in Australia's 500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Next Top Model who was previously a finalist for Miss Universe Australia 2014. She was signed by Scoop Management Australia, Modelwerk EU, 2mgmt Los Angeles and Wilhelmina New York City. She has posed for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and walked the runway for Miami Swim Week. She was discovered in 2015 while in Sydney, Australia on business
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Jeremy Jauncey @jeremyjauncey
To the uninitiated, a cursory scroll through Jeremy Jauncey’s Instagram feed might give the impression that he’s just one of the many good-looking people who have made a career out of social media. Behind the stunning travel pictures on @BeautifulDestinations and his personal feed (private islands in the Maldives, helicopter rides over Manhattan) a fully-fledged business is whirring away. The company now has about 40 employees spread across offices in New York (where Jauncey, a Scot, now spends most of his time), London and Hong Kong.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
He hopes to apply what the company has done with short videos on Instagram to longer episodes for these streaming platforms. There are people who “think their life is validated by social media and that everything they do needs to be shared to build digital popularity.” But, he says, “It’s actually nonsense, really. It’s important to know that social media is what you choose to share about your life. It is not your life.”
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Jess Dales @jess.wandering
Some places always feel like coming home. But for me, home has never been a box with rooms, a yard, and white picket fence. I tried to fit my life into that box. I really did. Not that long ago I spent my days behind a big desk, in a small office, with nothing on the white walls except for the law degree that I thought would define my future. Instead, I felt nostalgic for a life I wasn’t living, and probably never would. Growing up I wanted to be a doctor. Then entomologist, photographer, journalist, veterinarian, conservation biologist - I could go on and on. Point is, at no time do I remember wanting to be a lawyer. And all 500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
those paths I didn't take, they haunted me. So when fortune handed me a get out of jail free card in the form of a layoff, I happily embraced the opportunity. I didn’t look for another job as an attorney. I didn’t look back. Instead I focused on the big stuff. The what’s, and especially the why? I definitely don't have it all figured out. But this time around I’m determined to be the author of my own story. There are no blueprints for this life. No instruction manual. And that’s oka
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Juan Oliphant @juansharks
Juan Oliphant is more than just an underwater photographer, his conservation efforts and understanding of shark behavior have made him a leading presence in his field. Juan's primary goal with his work is to create an initiative for a global perception change for one of the most misunderstood species on the planet; sharks. Juan finished his degree in fine art and photography at BYUH in Laie Hawaii, 20 minutes from where he grew up at Chuns reef of North Shore, Oahu. Juan is one of the founders of One Ocean Research and Diving, Water Inspired Conservation Group, and Save The Sea Turtles International Non Profit. He grew 500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
up surfing the north shore and got into diving as a way to heal his back after an accident left him paralyzed. After learning to walk again and slowly regaining his strength after multiple surgeries his doctor advised him to take a break from surfing but Juan grew up in the ocean and couldn't stay away. He took up diving regularly and quickly became a divemaster and traveled the world with SeaShepard to help combat illegal fishing and whaling in 1999. From then on he began purposely diving with sharks on a regular basis and has worked with them year round ever since.
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Kristina Makeeva @hobopeeba
Kristina Makeeva is a photographer from Moscow, Russia. If you don’t love Russian style yet, after looking at her work you definitely will. Kristina has created Winter Serie where a flurry of white powder swirls around colourful architecture and light-filled trees – Moscow, during the winter, resembles a snow globe. On her website you can also find a hilarious photographs of the cat. Cutlet because that is cats name, is very majestic and quite phlegmatic at the same time, what definitely helped Kristina during the photoshoots. But this is not all, this extremely talented young Woman is an author of many others stunning artworks. 500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Makeeva started working with Photoshop when she was 14, and she began taking pictures 2 years later. The fact that she started first work with photoshop and after started photographing, definitely predetermined my style. As you can see blow all of her photo are edited in graphics editor.
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Marie Fe & Jake Snow @mariefeandjakesnow
If you have made it here via Instagram you’ve probably got a fair idea of what we are about. If you haven’t then let us introduce ourselves. We are Marie and Jake, we come from opposite sides of the world (Germany and Australia). We met while on holiday in Thailand and fell in love. In a world where we are spoilt for choice we chose happiness and we chose each other. Together we decided that love and happiness was more important than any security a job or money could offer! Combining our love for travel and photography we set out on a journey across the world in pursuit of our dreams.
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We travel the world creating content that inspires wanderlust and encourages people to chase their dreams. Behind the photos, behind the instagram is a story that is real. We started out from nothing, we fought through uncertainty and stayed true to our dreams. We want this blog to be the balance between what is real and the highlight reel we have on instagram.
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Michael Schulz @berlinstagram
Because I was convinced of it as a great platform for companies to connect directly with their customers, offering an added value like authentic content, inspiring stories and tailored campaigns that enable creativity and lead to a win-win-situation – both for the brand and the Instagram community! I started freelancing to prove this – and since then I never found the time to set up a proper website, but travelled to 35 countries and had the chance to work with fantastic clients.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Before I decided to focus entirely on Instagram I worked many years as a digital creative in in the fields of online marketing, user experience and information architecture. In my last position I set my priorities on User Experience, trying to achieve the best experience for users while maintaining the needs of the brand's stakeholders. I like to compare this to what I try to do now: acting as an intermediate between the community and brands.
Being on Instagram since the launch of the app, I built an expertise about the platform and its community within more than eight years.
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twenty questions
@berlinstagram Here, Influencers Magazine catches up with Michael Schulz to pose twenty questions.
Berlin comfort fast food, such as Döner Kebab or Currywurst.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Depends on the type of trip – I love road trips, but long train trips also have their charm. Planes are needed to reach far away destinations, but they’re not my favourite.
1. Did you travel in 2020? Yes, in January and February I’ve been to Thailand and – for the first time – to the amazing Philippines (Siargao, Bohol, Legazpi). I came back to Berlin in March, just a week before the first lockdown. For 2020, I needed to change my travel plans and just explored places within Europe. I went to Venice, Prague, Karlovy Vary, Milan, Amsterdam, Matera and did a road trip through South Italy’s Puglia area. As a photographer and traveller it was quite fascinating to experience all these places almost empty without many tourists.
2. Where were you in lockdown? I stayed in Berlin. I felt lucky during the first lockdown because spring was about to begin and I explored
local places which I haven’t been to for a long time.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag?
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why?
Camera, lenses, batteries, chargers, extension cables, drone, even more equipment stuff – and the rest of the space is for clothes.
That’s really hard to answer as I’ve been travelling so much in the last five years. One highlight was a road trip through Utah. We went in March, which is totally the wrong time to go there, so we experienced snow blizzards, stayed in completely empty motels and had most tourist sites just for us. On top of that, the landscape was mind blowing and so diverse – it was like driving on a different planet.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? Not much actually, as I love to eat foreign food. I guess I miss typical
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? The ‘Power Bagel’ – a travel power strip and adapter that fits any foreign plugs.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? Most probably in Bohol/Philippines because of its amazing beaches and hospitality of the Filipinos.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? Probably Venice again, because it will still be quite empty without international tourists.
10. Window or aisle seat? Aisle, always! I’m a bit hyper active and tall, so I need the additional space on the aisle.
11. Where did you grow up? Near Hannover in the middle of Germany.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? It was always trips into the mountains, never the sea – that’s why I probably prefer the opposite now.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I’m an Instagrammer of the first generation and started posting photos in 2010. It was just a hobby and nobody could actually foresee that Instagram would become so successful and huge. So basically it was just a passion for photography that made me start posting.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? I did an around-the-world trip for a Star Alliance campaign and could chose any cities world wide. So I traveled from Berlin to Budapest to Singapore to Seoul to Chicago to Toronto to Buenos Aires within six weeks.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? A photo series I took on the Island of Burano near Venice (https://www.instagram.com/p/CD ZL3D4HHkR/). Usually this place is crowded with tourists, but this time it was only locals (and some lone photographers, strolling around).
16. What’s on your playlist? I have a special playlist for travelling, you can listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4y yNIlbIN5cvLkijYZt9Yx
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
They use the left lane, but cars in Myanmar have the driver seat on the left hand side as well – so every overtaking manoeuvre feels like you’re about to crash into another car.
18. What places are top of your bucket list? Georgia, Chile/Patagonia and Japan.
19. What has 2020 taught you? Take nothing for granted.
20. Where will you go in 2021? Hopefully on long haul trips out of Europe. Hopefully Dubai for the Expo.
Driving on highways in Myanmar.
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expotv.tube
expo videos from around the world
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Nico Norena @succulentbite
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
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twenty questions
@succulentbite Influencers Magazine caught up with Nico Norena for a quick Q&A session.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? Definitely Thailand! I loved the feeling of being submerged in a completely new culture! All filled with delicious food, full of different flavours between one city and the next. Plus, the temples and scenery are spectacular!
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? Home cooked meals! Given the nature of my job we eat out all over the world, and we LOVE it! However a nice home cooked meal, with candles and a nice glass of wine is always a must.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile?
1. Did you travel in 2020? Yes I did! With extreme caution of course and verifying that all safety health measures were taking place wherever I went! We visited Cancun, Napa, Colombia and Park City, Utah.
2. Where were you in lockdown? I was in lockdown at our apartment in Miami, Florida.
I love to travel by airplane because it takes me to the adventure much faster! Growing up in Europe I did enjoy travel by train, however airplanes give me the possibility of visiting every single continent on earth (which I’ve had the fortune of being able to do!).
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? Camera, phone charger, cool t-shirts,
INFLUENCERS
Q&A set of shorts and sneakers, carry on tripod! I said it fast in my head too.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? By far my camera tripod. I’ve used it every single day for the past 10 months, filming all recipe and lifestyle videos at home!
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? Four Seasons Resort in Bora Bora! Double down on the mask to get there, but then enjoy the privacy and paradise for the rest of the trip. Plus that pool on top of the ocean is a dream!
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? Mykonos and Santorini, then hop around the Greek Islands.
10. Window or aisle seat? Aisle all day!
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? Out of love for food, photography/ videography, and travel! It started as a passion which I developed into an incorporated business over time.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? Being a nominee for Forbes 30 Under 30 and participating in National TV Shows.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? A photo with Ariana, my girlfriend, in Napa Valley!
2020 has taught me the importance of appreciating all the moments in life we usually take for granted. Being able to quickly hop on a plane to see family, meet friends at a local restaurant, or see your parents for afternoon coffee are some examples. It also taught me the importance of staying focused in doing what you love and what moves you, as well as making the best moment out of every instance.
20. Where will you go in 2021? I look forward to lots of travelling! From visiting local hotels in the Keys like Little Palm Island Resort, to doing a trip through the south of France, coast of Italy, and everything in between! I also would love to do other local food trips to Vegas and New York!
16. What’s on your playlist? Deep house & electronic, Reggaeton.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
I was born in Chicago but was raised in Madrid, Spain, and come from a Colombian and French family.
We were in Marbella, Spain, and some thugs were chasing after us to try to steal our belongings! This all happened on foot on the street; we called the police and all was ok.
12. What were your holidays like as a child?
18. What place is top of your bucket list?
Holidays as a child were usually large family gatherings, all the cousins together, lots of Christmas spirit and a beautiful tree! All was accompanied by a brilliant Christmas dinner cooked by my grandmother. We would often gather in Madrid, Miami or Bogota.
Top of my bucket list would be a tour around Australia! The food, scenery and overall experience is super different than anything else! Plus it’s super safe and full of epic spots.
11. Where did you grow up?
19. What has 2020 taught you?
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers silver category
Putri Anindya @puanindya
Putri Anindya is a freelance photographer based in Indonesia photography and travel are her passion so she mixed them into her works. Putri has worked for several companies and brands including New Zealand Tourism Board, Visit Gold Coast, Visit Brussels, Visit Dubai, ComeSeeTurkey, Wonderful Indonesia, Catalunya Experience, Langly Ambassador, Matoa Watch Ambassador, Qualcomm, Fiat, Mazda, Four Seasons Paris, Ritz Carlton, St Regis, Toms, Converse, Beringer Wine, Jagermeister, Redbull, HP, and Galaxy Samsung.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Putri has been featured on Huffington Post, Vsco.co, Hypebeast, Food and Wine, Streetdreamsmag, Majalah Tempo, Koran Tempo, Rollingstones, Dewi Magazine, Marie Claire Magazine, , Malesbanget.com, passionpassport, Freemagz.
worldsocialmedia.directory/putri-anindya/
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world travel influencers silver category
Raquel & Miguel @explorerssaurus_
We’re a young Portuguese couple with a passion for travelling, photography and film making. While Raquel was studying biomedical engineering in Spain and Miguel was working as a business manager at a construction company in Portugal, we decided to meet each other in different countries. And that’s how our adventure started! We were conquering and discovering the world one short trip at a time.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
By this time, we were even more in love with each other and more eager to travel together. So we took the next step: we decided to move in together. We were working as many hours as we could and invested in our photography and videography skills. We truly believe that couples who travel together stay together, so come and explore with us!
We explored Marrakech, Barcelona, Venice, Milan, Frankfurt and Paris. Where we collected amazing memories and epic experiences and we captured and shared them as we went along.
worldsocialmedia.directory/raquel-and-miguel/
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world travel influencers silver category
Rebecca Louise @rebeccalouisefitness
My mission is to help you feel like the best version of yourself every single day by bringing you exciting workouts and tasty recipes, as well as giving you the motivation to do it. Like a lot of people, it has taken me awhile to be comfortable in my own skin. At the age of 17, I suffered with anorexia and terrible complexion which led to depression. Discovering the proper balance of exercise and great nutrition set me on track to take control of my health, wellness, and life! After building knowledge about the importance of cellular nutrition from the number one nutrition company in the world, practicing as a certified personal trainer, and
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
being a qualified 200 hour yoga teacher, I am excited to share my experiences and help others reach their goals. Born in a small town in England called Eastbourne, I came to California in 2011 to get my commercial pilot’s license. I have always participated in sports since a young age and was a South of England Field Hockey player; I was also the sports captain at my high school for the netball, soccer, and track teams. Even after earning my pilot’s license, I discovered my true passion was in fitness and helping others to improve their lives through living a healthy, active lifestyle.
worldsocialmedia.directory/rebecca-louise/
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world travel influencers silver category
Sebas & Espe @twotrends
TwoTrends is a Lifestyle, travel and fashion blog targeted for both men and women. Having met in Miami FL, Sebastian and Espe always shared a love for fashion, experiencing the world and living life to the fullest. They began documenting their everyday lives on social media with emphasis to couple related content, which then led them to establish a fanbase of over 500,000 across all social media platforms.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Coming from Architectural and Journalist backgrounds, Sebastian & Espe add a unique perspective in the influencer space in undoubtedly more than one way. Not only do they both hold professional careers, but they come from a diverse Latin background, making their content relevant to a broader audience. Currently, Sebastian and Espe continue to share their passion as lifestyle influencers in the industry for gentlemen, ladies and loving couples around the globe.
worldsocialmedia.directory/sebas-and-espe/
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world travel influencers silver category
Thomas Kakareko @thomas_k
Thomas Kakareko is a Berlin based photographer and content creator with a strong passion for urban and street photography. He started to photograph in October 2010 shortly after joining Instagram. Ever since he has become one of Germany's most followed and recognized Instagram Photographer’s. Today Thomas creates content for some of the world’s most renowned brands. His pictures were shown in various exhibitions around the world and featured in various newspapers, magazines and blogs.
500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
In July 2012 Thomas co-founded visumate, a social media agency that specializes in Influencer and Content marketing. In 2018 visumate was acquired by Dutch agency network Dept.
worldsocialmedia.directory/thomas-kakareko/
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world travel influencers silver category
Steve Winter @stevewinterphoto
Steve Winter has been attacked by rhinos in India, stalked by jaguars in Brazil, charged by a 11foot grizzly in Siberia, and trapped in quicksand in the world's largest tiger reserve in Myanmar. He has slept in a tent for six months at 40 below zero tracking snow leopard, flown over erupting volcanoes, and visited isolated villages where residents have never before seen a blond foreigner—or a camera. Steve specializes in wildlife, and particularly, big cats. He’s been named BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and BBC Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year. He was a two-time winner of Picture of the Year International’s Global Vision 500K TO 749K FOLLOWERS
Award and won 1st prize in the nature story category from World Press Photo in 2008 and 2014. He lectures globally on photography and conservation issues and has been interviewed on CBS Nightly News, 60 Minutes, NPR, BBC, and CNN. Steve feels we have a great responsibility not only to show and excite the readers about the natural world, but about its fascinating people and cultures as well. He wants to give people a reason to care. Above all, he wants to give the readers of National Geographic what he always wanted—a front row seat next to the photographer and writer, part of the team along for the adventure.
worldsocialmedia.directory/steve-winter/
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interview
Man, mountain, panther Multi-award winning photojournalist Steve Winter talks big cat encounters.
Steve Winter is a National Geographic Explorer who’s been named BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and BBC Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year. He won Picture of the Year International’s Global Vision Award twice and 1st prize twice in World Press Photo, Nature category. In 2020, he won 2nd prize in World Press Photo, Contemporary Issues category. When he was 8 years old, Steve Winter dreamt of being a National Geographic photographer. Back then, he’d been drawn to people. But his first animal assignment changed the course of his life. “I heard the stairs, the floorboards creaking, scratching under the door... then I heard sniffing.” Steve’s base? Guatemala. In a one room shack on the top of a mountain. “He would follow me, he or she, I never saw it. But I’d walk up the trail and get goose bumps on my
arms, the hair on the back of my neck would stand up. I knew I was being followed. But the thing is, when you’re in the jungle, you turn around and you can only see 2 or 3 metres behind you. And a cat will never let you see him. It was just curious. He wanted to know what I smelt like, he was just being a curious cat. He just happened to be a very big, strong black panther! I was there for 5 weeks, living with a black panther.” That unexpected, symbiotic relationship moved Steve Winter and photographing wildlife became his full time passion. And then, along came social media. “Nat Geo asked a group of us to start posting images when this new app came out. It was called Instagram.” “We were actually posting from the field. And they were pictures that, usually, no one would see. As soon as we started, we saw the incredible benefits. You’d be out all
day long, in the middle of nowhere, slogging through the mud in a jungle, you’d come back to a lodge, post something and all of a sudden you’re engaging with people.” And Steve loved it. “You’re working so hard, 7 days a week and you have an unknown person patting you on the back, telling you you did a great job!” With the level of engagement he gets today, Steve Winter uses his platform to talk conservation. And due to the restrictions of Covid-19, in 2020 he turned his attention to helping tigers at home, in the States. Plus, he’s started using more video on his account. “We, as photographers, know the power of an image but we also know only a small percentage of people scroll through the other shots on a multiple picture post. So now, I think reels are a better way to go. Videos with stills tell the best stories.”
“I GOT GOOSE BUMPS ON MY ARMS, THE HAIR ON THE BACK OF MY NECK STOOD UP. I KNEW I WAS BEING FOLLOWED...”
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interview
And the story? The big cat pet trade. “I want to stop people doing this in the US. Without the ivory trade ban, there wouldn’t be elephants. For millennia people have used big cats for pets. Cleopatra had cheetahs. And roadside zoos too, in the US you can make an enormous amount of money. They have tiger cubs to pet - but they always need new ones... a cub can only ‘work’ for 3-4 months. Then they get too big. 3-4 months, that’s it, then they’re done.” “We must get this message out. Big cats, their homes, the jungles, they’re vital to us. Nature is perfection and the Earth we live on is a living being. We must change the way we treat it. Look at Covid, it started in a wet market in Wuhan,
a place with wild animals for sale as pets or for medicinal purposes, crammed together in cages. Different species stacked on top of each other. But I believe, as an influencer, I can help. We’re not doing advocacy journalism we’re just giving people the information to make up their own minds. I have a very passionate group of followers on my account, these people love big cats.” And it’s working. The Big Cat Public Safety Act was passed in the House of Representatives, now it will go to the Senate. It will prevent people owning big cats as pets and prohibit hands on contact at roadside zoos. For Steve Winter, the fight isn’t over but it’s a step closer. He’s determined to keep showing the world what he sees, using social media to do it.
“WE MUST GET THIS MESSAGE OUT. BIG CATS, THEIR HOMES, THE JUNGLES, THEY’RE VITAL TO US.”
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lovetv.tube
love videos from around the world
UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
World Travel Influencers
Bronze Category Up to 499k followers
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world travel influencers bronze category
Benjamin Prescott @itsbigben
My name's Ben and I'm an outdoor lifestyle photographer based near Vancouver BC Canada. When I was kid, I used to have these embarrassing moments with my Dad. Every time we went out on some new adventure (camping, skiing, biking, hiking, etc), he would always bring along this hilarious variety of sub-$200 digital cameras - and, of course, wanted me to pose for photos. I've always been pretty awkward in front of the camera, but I didn't really care because I was a kid. Although, fast forward to about age 13, I was solely focused on being as cool as possible, and posing for my Dad's photos was no longer an option. My Dad has UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
always been a resourceful individual and he figured a $5 payment would be well worth the memories. Somehow I agreed. I'm not sure exactly how much money I made, but we think my reluctant modelling was worth about $30 a year. I'm not who I thought I would turn out to be - who my Dad was back then, that's me now. Well, mostly; I don't have kids of my own yet, but the summary is perfectly relevant. My camera is worth a bit more than $200, but it's always in the car with me, in my hands, or buried in my pack - camping, hiking, mountains, beaches, etc.
worldsocialmedia.directory/benjamin-prescott/
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world travel influencers bronze category
Beverly Joubert @beverlyjoubert
Beverly is an intuitive photographer rather than a technical one, a person who lives and breathes Africa and its wild open places filled with big cats and elephants, racing zebras or bubbling lava flows. National Geographic Explorer-inResidence, just one of 14 people selected to represent this level of professionalism in the Society, she has specialized in African photography for nearly 30 years, with images in a dozen or more National Geographic Magazines, in 10 books, and thousands of articles around the world. She is a child of Africa and that seems to make all the difference because deeply embedded in her work is a knowledge of her UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
subjects; she seems to understand the leopard through the highlights on the eyes and what it will do next, because she has seen it thousands of times before. She feels the mist swirl around a male lion‌ and we as observers of the image she gives us, can also feel the roar that is about to come from its mouth, because she has heard those roars daily for decades. Her passion for wildlife is endless. Perhaps for Beverly, the most prestigious and valued accolade is the Presidential Order of Merit given to her by the president of Botswana His Excellency Ian Khama, for work done for the enhancement of the reputation of Botswana via her images.
worldsocialmedia.directory/beverly-joubert/
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world travel influencers bronze category
Camille & Jean @backpackdiariez
We are Camille and Jean, a couple of Belgians with a HUGE passion for travel! We thrive on exploring faraway places and discovering new cultures, and we just can’t get enough of it… We started this blog a couple of years ago when we interrupted our corporate careers in London for a 5 month backpacking trip across Latin America. Our blog started off as something small with the purpose of keeping our friends and family updated, and sharing a couple of travel tips to fellow travelers. This 5 month trip was arguably one of the most life changing things we ever did and we instantly got hooked.
UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
Now, one year into it, we manage to make it work by finding the
right balance between travelling, freelance work and social media collaborations. Our blog and Instagram account are booming and enable us to travel to places we could never have imagined before. Through our Instagram account and our blog, we hope to inspire many other people to get out of their daily grind and start exploring. We have an incredibly engaged audience of travel fanatics who are constantly looking for new travel destinations and great places to stay. The feedback has been fantastic so far, and we are only just getting started… We have many more crazy ideas that we hope to realize soon, so stay tuned!
worldsocialmedia.directory/camille-and-jean/
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world travel influencers bronze category
Candy & Cocoa @candyandcocoa
UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
worldsocialmedia.directory/candy-and-cocoa/
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Carina Pinheiro & Ivo Filipe @onewayticketrip
We’re Carina and Ivo, creators of OneWayTickeTrip. We were born and raised in Portugal. We’re from near small villages, but during 20 years we didn’t know about each other’s existence. We met and fell in love in Porto while we were taking our degrees. At this time, Ivo was being haunted by depression. Thank god Carina came and everything seems to make sense again. Carina worked in the fashion industry and at the same time start sharing her passion for making trends in simple looks to wear daily, her travels and lifestyle on her Instagram account. Ivo was always passionate about entrepreneurship and travel-instyle, documenting the day-toUP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
day episodes of his journey in his personal channels. As our passion for travel grew, so did the amount of opportunities to bring our passions for Travel, Fashion, and Photography together into a collaborative Lifestyle project, in 2017 we said goodbye to our corporate jobs and set out to travel full time. Currently based in Porto, Portugal, we travel the world and create content for Brands, Hotels & Resorts, and Experiences. We plan and perform our pieces of content during our trips to different destinations, photographing and filming us individually or as a couple
worldsocialmedia.directory/carina-pinheiro-and-ivo-filipe/
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world travel influencers bronze category
Daisy Gilardini @daisygilardini
Daisy Gilardini is originally from Switzerland but now lives in British Columbia – Canada. She started taking photography seriously during her first trip to India in 1989 and since then has visited more than 70 countries with camera in hand. After falling in love with Antarctica during her first trip there in 1997, she has spent most of her time photographing the Polar Regions. In two decades of polar explorations she joined over sixty expeditions to Antarctica and the Arctic, most of them on research vessels and icebreakers, one on a sailing boat, some overland and in 2006 she joined a Russian expedition to the North Pole on skies. UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
Daisy’s images have been published internationally by leading magazines and organizations, such as National Geographic, Smithsonian, BBC Wildlife, Nature’s Best, Audubon, The Telegraph, Outdoor Photography, Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund, among many others. Her work has received awards at the most prestigious international photo contests such as the “BBC Wildlife photographer of the year”, “Travel Photography of the Year”, “Nature’s Best” and many more. In April 2010 Daisy had the great honor to be part of the jury of the “BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year” considered as the “Oscars” of nature photography photo contests.
worldsocialmedia.directory/daisy-gilardini/
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twenty questions
@daisygilardini Influencers Magazine caught up with Daisy Gilardini to pose twenty questions.
1. Did you travel in 2020?
Yes, in January, before the pandemic started, I spent a month in Antarctica. In March I was in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada for polar bears cubs. After that, due to travel restrictions, I was confined to Canada and explored my backyard. In July I explored the British Columbia Cascade Mountains, in August I was in Northern British Columbia for grizzly bears and in the fall I was the Rocky Mountains.
2. Where were you in lockdown?
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why?
Antarctica for sure. It’s like no other place on earth… it is actually a planet on our planet.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? Properly cooked pasta ‘al dente’.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Sail boat. It is quiet and allows you to reach very remote places.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag?
My camera, my computer, my phone and a few clothes.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? My noise reduction headphones.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? Costa Rica.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021?
Paris.
10. Window or aisle seat?
Aisle seat.
11. Where did you grow up? Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland.
12. What were your holidays like as a child?
Summers at sea in Italy or in the Swiss/Italian Alps.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? To share my passion for photography, travel and nature and try to raise awareness on environmental issues.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? Being able to inspire people to follow their heart and passions.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? A picture of a grizzly bear shaking, shot in British Columbia, Canada.
16. What’s on your playlist? A bit of everything, from pop to rock music, from classical music to jazz, it really depends on my mood.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? I almost died in Madagascar due to food poisoning with Malaria at the same time.
18. What place is top of your bucket list? The Geographical South Pole.
19. What has 2020 taught you? Take nothing for granted.
20. Where will you go in 2021? If all goes well and we can start travelling I have a full year ahead… in Canada there’s Manitoba, British Columbia and Yukon, and internationally there’s Svalbard, Galapagos, North Pole, Kamchatka and Alaska.
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spa videos from around the world
world travel influencers bronze category
Gunnar Freyr @icelandic_explorer
Born and raised by Icelandic parents in Denmark, Gunnar Freyr has always had a love for Iceland and a desire to live in his home country. In 2014, he decided to quit his corporate job in consulting and accounting. He sold all his belongings and purchased a one-way ticket to Iceland – where his heart finally felt at home. Suit and tie were quickly replaced by Icelandic sweaters knitted by his mom, and much of his time spent out in the incredible landscapes which have come to define his reality in so many ways.
UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
Self-taught photographer, Gunnar Freyr added the photographers school in Reykjavik to his list of projects in 2016 – but his successful projects and overwhelming desire to explore his home country brought him back into the wild in 2017. He is currently working with several local and international brands, doing projects ranging from landscape, wildlife, lifestyle and product photography. Gunnar Freyr is an official Canon Nordic Photographer
worldsocialmedia.directory/gunnar-freyr/
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Indulgent Eats @indulgenteats
UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
My name is Jen Balisi, a 5 foot tall gal with a big appetite and a serious travel bug. I grew up in a Filipino household where food was the center of everything and family vacations were tradition. When I moved to New York City to go to college at NYU, my passion for food grew as I explored the restaurant capital that was now my home. A semester abroad in Prague enhanced my inherent strength in planning weekend trips and weeklong getaways. Graduation led to a career in marketing at American Express and a growing bank account, which opened my palate to 3 star Michelin restaurants and tasting menus, and opened my mind to new cultures and destinations as I traveled more and more.
I started Indulgent Eats in 2013 as a way to share all of these experiences. As my Instagram audience grew to my surprise, I kept working on my photography and witty captions to the point where I’ve now made this my fulltime job. I don’t expect every piece of content to be relevant to you and that’s where things get a bit selfish on my part, but I do hope that you, the reader, still find enough tidbits of usefulness, happiness, curiosities, what have you, that you stay along for the ride.
worldsocialmedia.directory/indulgent-eats/
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Jamie Milne @everything_delish
Jamie Milne is a Toronto-based food, travel, and lifestyle blogger with an appetite to see the world! With over 150,000 followers on Instagram, Jamie splits her time between Toronto and travelling different cities; curating the most delish content to share with you! Jamie has been covered in press such as Life&Style, Elite Daily, Cosmopolitan, Honest Cooking Magazine, 9gag, BlogLovin; featured in national ad campaigns such as, Heinz, Booking.com, Nestea, Starbucks, in addition to collaborating with major travel and hospitality groups.
UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
worldsocialmedia.directory/jamie-milne/
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Jessica Hirsch @cheatdayeats
My name is Jessica and I am a New York based food and travel photographer. I am the founder of @CheatDayEats and @YourRoomService which highlight food and travel all over the world that I have eaten and photographed. I also mix in lifestyle shots to give a personal touch. @YourRoomService focuses on highlighting the dining experience at hotels and resorts worldwide. It is a unique concept that focuses on the beautiful inroom dining experience that no one else has touched upon. In just a little over 5 years, I’ve built an audience that reaches over 3 million people on a weekly basis through my organic feeds that are a showcase of my own personal experiences. Not only am I UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
passionate about my brand, but I’m inspired and dedicated in helping other brands, businesses, and destinations grow. I am a content creator, social media/brand development strategist and digital storyteller. In addition to photography, a big focus of mine is on video content creation. I enjoy being in front of the camera as well as capturing my experiences. My audience gets a behind the scenes look and feel as if they are along with me for the ride!
worldsocialmedia.directory/jessica-cheatdayeats/
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twenty questions
@cheatdayeats Influencers Magazine caught up with Jessica Hirsch for a quick Q&A session
1. Did you travel in 2020? Before the pandemic hit hard in the USA, I was staying in Miami for the Super Bowl and the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. I have not been on a plane since the pandemic hit in March 2020.
2. Where were you in lockdown? We stayed just outside of New York City, in a suburb about 30 minutes north.
looking down at the clouds and being on the other side of the world in half a day.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? I actually hardly ever do a checked bag – the whole month-and-a-half in Miami was just with a carry on bag. Most of my stuff is my camera gear as a Sony Alpha photographer.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought?
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why?
Protein bars – I am not a pleasant person when I am hungry.
It is very difficult to choose because I feel that every destination brings me joy for different reasons. Bali felt very adventurous while Rome was my favourite food trip.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021?
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most?
Maldives or Bora Bora are dream spots for me.
9. Window or aisle seat?
Typically when I travel, I tend to indulge more so I actually miss my go-to healthy home made salads.
Window – I love to watch the clouds on take off and landing.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile?
Upstate New York, about 30 min from New York City.
If there was no hassle associated with flying, I would say that. I love
10. Where did you grow up?
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 11. What were your holidays like as a child? I am Jewish so the holidays were a time to visit my grandparents and eat too many latkas.
12. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I wanted to share my passions in life with a community of people I saw online. This started in about 2013 when Instagram wasn’t close to what it is today but I was fortunate enough to have my passion line up and turn into a full time career now.
13. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? The community I have built is my biggest highlight. Without them having a dream job wouldn’t be possible. Also, having my video on the billboard in Times Square was pretty cool.
14. What’s on your playlist? I have a long list. I like to shuffle dance so currently dancing to ‘I Wanna Do’ by Chemical Surf and Dubdisko and ‘Wasted’ by Tiësto.
15. What places are top of your bucket list? Australia, Tokyo, Maldives and Bora Bora.
16. What has 2020 taught you? Gratitude. I always try and practice gratitude. To start and end my day thinking about what I am grateful for. 2020 has taught me to be grateful for even the simplest of things.
17. Where will you go in 2021? Wherever we can go! I hope the travel ban will be lifted. I would love to make my way to Australia.
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Jovi Travel @jovi_travel
We are a couple from Germany who always loved to travel and to discover new places together. Tired of our 9-to-5 jobs and curious about what great adventures the world has to offer we finally decided to leave everything behind an start exploring the world together. I’m pretty sure that’s more or less what you read in every travel blog... why having a travel blog otherwise?!
UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
worldsocialmedia.directory/jovi-travel/
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world travel influencers bronze category
June Quan @stirandstyle
It started off as unintentional. Then one day, I finally became aware of where food intersected with fashion in my mind. It happened when I was working at a law firm and taking my usual lunch/shopping break. I walked into Zara, saw a dark green flowy jumpsuit, and the first thought that came to mind was a citrusy kale salad I ate while having lunch in San Francisco with a friend from high school years ago. It hit me that I associate memories of food with items of clothing, which in turn has developed my style and taste in food. The nostalgia and positivity I experience spawned by a single bite of food inspires not only a desire to hold onto those UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
moments, but also opens my eyes to a unique perspective of my own mind’s way of linking together two genuine passions in my life- food and fashion. Essentially, as I style outfits, I get the chance to wear my memories. It becomes a way for me to express myself through my wardrobe and allows me to preserve those moments longer. As I said, it started off as unintentional. Now that I’m aware that my love for food and the significant impact it has on my life inspires my fashion, I am able to cherish those memories even more.
worldsocialmedia.directory/june-quan/
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Katerina & Yinon @katerinandyinon
Hi, we’re Katerina and Yinon! We come from the middle of nowhere and are headed pretty much everywhere. We were born and grew up in small countries (Bulgaria and Israel) but life brought us together in the big city of New York. We met by chance, waiting in line for a salad and our lives have completely changed since. We both had the travel bug for as long as we could remember but it was only after we found the love of our lives and built a strong relationship that we were able to take it to the next level and turn it into our own business.
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With our backgrounds, we were only able to get where we are through hard work and making the impossible possible, and we think anyone else can do it too. So we started this blog to help others not only “believe” in their dreams, but work hard to make them possible like we did. Travelling around the world to open your mind, discover different cultures and add new perspectives is one of the best things you could do, but sharing it with your other half is even better!
worldsocialmedia.directory/katerina-and-yinon/
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@katerinandyinon Influencers Magazine asked Katerina & Yinon about their lives as influencers.
1. Did you travel in 2020? In March after a year of travel, we finally settled down in Miami. Until July we were pretty much in lockdown but at the start of summer we travelled to Europe for a couple of months and later on to Bora Bora for our honeymoon, followed by a couple of short trips here, in the Caribbean.
2. Where were you in lockdown? The day we signed our lease in Miami, the government announced the lockdown. We felt very fortunate to have a roof over our heads at that time.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? Honestly, our last trip to Bora Bora was the absolute best trip we ever had. The combination of the views, the nature and the luxury hotels was a dream come true.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? We mostly miss our home food by our families. Katerina’s family live in Bulgaria and Yinon’s are in Israel and that’s the food we love and miss the most.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Last year we fell in love with road trips and did two of them – one in Australia with a van and the other with our car, from Bulgaria to Italy over a few months.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? A few swimsuits, our camera, tripod, and a few white and black t-shirts.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? Most definitely our iPhones. We use them for photos, editing, emails, calls and just everything.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? After doing Bora Bora a few months ago, we would go to the Maldives this time if we were to get married in 2021.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? We used to live in New York City for many years and we can’t wait to be back already.
10. Window or aisle seat? Window for Katerina and aisle for Yinon.
11. Where did you grow up? We both grew up in small towns in small countries. Katerina in Bulgaria and Yinon in Israel. Only later on in life did we move to the US – Katerina for her degree at Harvard and Yinon for a relocation with a tech startup.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? Mostly surrounded by family, eating delicious food.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? To Katerina, who started our page, this seemed like a great path to get out of corporate life, and together with her big love of photography it made a lot of sense. Some of her photos went viral and got many likes, and that led to her doing it more frequently. A year later, Katerina quit her job and started doing it full time.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? This whole journey of creating something out of nothing is a complete rollercoaster, we love what we do and appreciate the life we built for ourselves. The biggest highlight was launching our story editing app – Mosaic Stories. It’s the first and only tappable stories editor.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? We don’t usually use a drone to take our pictures but when we visited Tahiti’s Black Sand Beach we took a picture of us from above using our drone and it became our favorite. We barely had any battery, and captured literally ten photos and got one good one out of them.
16. What’s on your playlist? Bien, Tame Impala, Grimes, Drake, Sevdaliza and more.
18. What place is top of your bucket list?
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
Maldives.
Our first trip to Europe after the lockdown was frightening, after that we had many flights and felt a lot more comfortable with them.
19. What has 2020 taught you?
20. Where will you go in 2021? We’re mostly looking forward to visiting our families. Katerina has a first nephew in Bulgaria and we can’t wait to see him.
Mostly to remember to have perspective and appreciate the life we have.
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Kelly & Kody @positravelty
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Sun-drenched locations, lustworthy travel experiences, a positive outlook on life and an infectious love for one another, full-time wanderers Kody and Kelly from Positravelty give us some serious good vibes and inspire our lust for travel to farflung destinations.
Our inspiration comes from many different avenues. Exploring new destinations, meeting new people, learning about new cultures, photography and collaborations with other creative minds all inspire us. Our curiosity for the world seems to grow as we continue to explore.
Whether it’s bathing in waterfalls in Bali, laying poolside in South Africa or trekking in Norway, their beautiful Instagram images never fail to delight us. We take five with them this week to find out more.
Our perfect day would be an early morning hike followed by a relaxing afternoon at a secluded beach with fresh, cold coconuts. Calorie-less ice cream would have just been invented, foot massages and a glass of wine in a jacuzzi to end a mosquito free evening.
worldsocialmedia.directory/kelly-and-kody/
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@positravelty Influencers Magazine caught up with Kelly and Kody for a quick Q&A session.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought?
Definitely our camera. Doing photography has changed the way that we travel, making us explore more and dive deeper into what different countries have to offer.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021?
We actually plan to get married in 2021 and will most likely look into having our honeymoon in Bora Bora or the Maldives.
1. Did you travel in 2020?
Only through a few states in the USA and two trips to Jamaica.
2. Where were you in lockdown?
We were between Michigan and Louisiana.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why?
Bali in 2019 was our favourite trip for sure, but South Africa would be a close second.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? Honestly, cheese. It can be very hard to find good cheese abroad.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile?
Whatever is the most simple and gets us there the quickest.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag?
Camera equipment, clothing and bathroom necessities.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? New York would be an amazing place to visit.
10. Window or aisle seat?
Window.
11. Where did you grow up?
Kody grew up in Grand Haven, Michigan and Kelly grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
12. What were your holidays like as a child?
We both loved holidays growing up.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A Lots of family time, good food and good memories.
19. What has 2020 taught you?
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer?
20. Where will you go in 2021?
We had plans to travel for the entirety of 2019 and, due to a conversation we had with a friend of ours about what people use IG for, we thought we would give it a shot and see if we had what it takes.
To be patient and to be kind, no matter what.
We have plans for Panama, St Lucia, and Bali.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? We love seeing our creativity grow and we definitely enjoy, more than anything, seeing our community get inspired by our work and excited about travel and photography.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? The engagement photo that we took in the water in Jamaica is our favourite of the year.
16. What’s on your playlist? Kelly loves electronic music and Kody loves alternative/indie.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
We have had flawless travel to be honest. I don’t think we have had any scares other than almost missing flights or misplacing something for a short period of time.
18. What places are top of your bucket list? French Polynesia and Iceland.
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Kirsten Alana @kirstenalana
Bonjour! My name is Kirsten. I’ve worn a lot of hats in my career, but I am first and foremost always a photographer. I’d love to work with you to create imagery that inspires and motivates your desired audience to action – particularly if it’s socially conscious and environmentally responsible. I’ve worked with brands such as Four Seasons, Ted Baker and Travel + Leisure on every continent but Antarctica. I also blog occasionally about my travels, my favourite things and what it’s like to call Los Angeles home. I’m a lover of culture and adventure, I’m always seeking to know more. I’m a romantic and an optimist at heart..who feels drawn to consistently revisit old favourites like France and UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
Scotland. Like I said above, almost all the work I do has some element of photography inherent but I have also consulted and advised brands; I’ve spoken at conferences on six continents; I have been in front of the camera hosting for CNN, Travel+Leisure, and Expedia; and I was the first photographer to travel around the world aboard Four Seasons new private jet in the Spring of 2015. Travel, to me, has always symbolized the magic and freedom of not only finding oneself, but also learning about the world outside your door and being actively invested in your own life’s journey.
www.instagram.com/Kirstenalana/?hl=en
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Laura Nadine & Nicolas Herbert @passportinonehand
We are Laura and Nicolas, a 90s couple from Ghent, Belgium. In October 2018, we made a decision that would change our lives forever. We left our comfy life behind us and took a leap into the unknown. With our ‘passport in one hand’ and our camera in the other, we hopped on the plane to our dream life. Our goal with our Instagram page (@passportinonehand) is to inspire others to live their dream life, to show that anything is possible. But most of all, we want to spread love and positivity. We want to make you dream, even if it’s just for that one minute that you see our photo and read our caption. UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
This blog was created not only to inspire, but to help you plan your next trip. You will find travel guides of the places that we have explored, tips and tricks to make your travels easier, our favourite travel gear, must-haves, discount codes to make your travels cheaper, and so much more. This is just the beginning… where to next?
worldsocialmedia.directory/laura-nadine-and-nicolas-herbert/
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Leo Thomas @theolator
Founded in January 2015, the collective of outdoor photographers quickly emerged to become nothing less but Europe’s biggest outdoor community in social media. With a reach of more than 4M followers by today, the German Roamers are an influential community platform.
The collective consists of 14 photographers, aged between 18 and 35, ranging from students to full-time professionals. Along with the expertise and experience in social media campaigns, this setup allows to create the perfect crew for any purpose needed.
They are known and respected for their unique style of interpreting outdoor and travel photography. Bringing Germany into focus, they put photography into the center of attention. They are willing and able to always put 100% of effort into their projects because they strive for nothing but the best quality when it comes to visual content. UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
worldsocialmedia.directory/leo-thomas/
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Lindsay Greene @the_hunger_diaries
American food blogger.
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worldsocialmedia.directory/lindsay-greene/
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Manuel Dietrich @manueldietrichphotography
Manuel Dietrich is a photographer, filmmaker and travel addict based in a small village in western Germany. Since I was looking for the typical 3-month time out in Australia after finishing school in 2014, my life has changed more than I would have ever imagined. What once was only a temporary hobby quickly turned into a photography and travel obsession. Today it constantly draws me to new destinations exploring the world we're living in.
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No matter if it's only a weekend trip to the Italian Dolomites or an adventure tour to the Lofoten Islands, every second that I got left besides my architectural studies and every opportunity I see to escape the daily monotony of the student life is being used. I couldn't imagine a life without a camera in my hand and a passport in my backpack anymore. 'Routine is the enemy of time. Live your life to the fullest!'
worldsocialmedia.directory/manuel-dietrich/
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Marcel Evolumina @evolumina
All aspects regarding landscape and travel photography, film making and social media campaigns combined in one brand. Marcel Lesch is the person behind "My favourite part about photography is the fact that you always connect with new people. It doesn't matter which skin colour, no matter of the religious purposes, the gender or any social situations. You come together everywhere around to world to follow the same interests and passion: Photography"
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His work as a landscape and travel photographer opens the opportunity to explore unique countries on different continents around the world. "I´m always prepared! Spending several hours of planning before starting a new journey into an environment I haven't visited before is a normal routine. The great fact about landscape photography is: You don't work in a studio and the weather can either destroy all your plans or offer great conditions for notable footage!"
worldsocialmedia.directory/marcel-evolumina/
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Melissa Hie @girleatworld
My name is Melissa Hie and I am the “Girl� in Girl Eat World. As the name of this blog might have suggested, I love eating and travelling the world. I started this blog in 2015, for probably the most traditional reason ever – to keep a diary for myself and for friends whom I know will be asking me for travel tips. Before that though, blogging and I go way back – I have been blogging for close to two decades since 2001.
try and this time I created a dedicated travel blog and named in Girl Eat World in 2015. đ&#x;˜? So long story short, that’s how my blog, Girl Eat World started. Since then, I’ve explored places I never thought I would visit (such as Ukraine, Jordan, middle of Australia, and Tasmania), done the diving trip of a lifetime in Raja Ampat, spent loads of time in Bali and Japan, crossed New Zealand off my bucket list‌ and the list goes on.
In 2014, I accidentally found success with Instagram and discovered they I still love telling stories of my travels. With this new-found love of storytelling, I decided to give blogging another UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
worldsocialmedia.directory/melissa-hie/
influencers MAGAZINE
influencers M A G A Z I N E
Influencer marketing is quickly becoming a major part of the social marketing strategies for many marketers and agencies a like. With digital marketing spend increasing every year, more and more dollars are being devoted to influencer marketing programs due to their potential for significant ROI yields with often less resources. The value of influencer marketing is undeniable and no matter the size, resources, or sophistication, of a marketer or agency, all should be considering integrating an influencer marketing strategy into their social plans, even if their just beginning. The prospect of being able to reach consumers, inside and outside your traditional audience, in engaging ways, and through trusted voices is value that can’t be found through many if any other forms of social media marketing.
www.theinfluencersmagazine.com
introducing the top mid dle east
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world travel influencers bronze category
Michael Sidofsky @mindz.eye
Michael Sidofsky is a professional photographer from Toronto, specializing in elevated travel photography. Being an avid traveler and photographer, my goal is to capture the essence of a destination through the use of advanced techniques in photography and post-processing.
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I believe this is what sets my images apart from other photographers. My images aim to portray a unique perspective of places or things that may seem commonplace to the everyday eye, but which trigger some sort of emotional reaction. Whether I'm shooting landscapes, cityscapes, streets or architecture, my goal is to always create a connection between the subject and the viewer.
worldsocialmedia.directory/michael-sidofsky/
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@mindz.eye Influencers Magazine asks Michael Sidofsky twenty questions about being an Influencer.
2. Where were you in lockdown?
I spent my lockdown in Toronto, Canada.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why?
1. Did you travel in 2020?
Yes. I was fortunate to visit San Francisco, New York City, Paris, and Normandy before the pandemic. Once, the risk was much lower, I visited Alberta, Canada for a road trip in a camper van and Poland.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought?
I really dislike the wired headphones provided by the airlines, so I recently purchased a bluetooth transmitter that allows me to use my wireless headphones to watch movies on a plane.
My trip through Indonesia back in 2018 was my favourite to date. Everything from the tropical landscape, the food, and the culture were new to me. It’s those new experiences that make travel memorable and exciting.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021?
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most?
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021?
I’d love to spend my honeymoon in The Maldives.
Poutine!
Anywhere in Italy.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile?
10. Window or aisle seat?
I always fall asleep on plane rides, so I’d prefer the window.
I fly to most of my destinations but once I arrive, I prefer to travel by car. It gives me the freedom to go shoot anywhere I want at any time of day.
11. Where did you grow up?
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag?
12. What were your holidays like as a child?
I’m a light packer. All I need is my camera, drone, some clothes and a toothbrush.
I grew up in Toronto, Canada.
I didn’t travel that often when I was a child but my family took me on a few trips down south to Mexico, the Bahamas, and Florida.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? I never had any intention of becoming an influencer. I just wanted to share my photography with people online.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? Since becoming a photographer/ influencer, I‘ve been able to see the world, but more importantly make friendships that will last a lifetime.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? I didn’t take as many photos as I’d have liked to this year but I think the one from Paris shown here is my favourite.
16. What’s on your playlist? I love all types of music. Anything from jazz, to hip hop, rock, to EDM.
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling? Fortunately, nothing bad has happened to me while travelling. I’d say the scariest thing would be a very turbulent flight I took in Indonesia. That was a little unnerving.
18. What place is top of your bucket list? I would love to visit Japan.
19. What has 2020 taught you?
20. Where will you go in 2021?
Last year has taught me to appreciate the friends and family that I have. Life is short and the people that support you mean the most in life.
The pandemic has turned plans into hopes. In the next year, I hope to visit Switzerland, Italy, Thailand, and France. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to travel to those places and more.
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Mike Coots @mikecoots
What if I told you there’s a guy who lost his leg to a shark attack and says it’s the best thing that ever happened to him? I guess it would just prove that life is simply a matter of perspective. Meet Mike Coots, a 35-year-old Kauai born surfer, photographer, and all around Good Samaritan. In 1997, at the tender age of 17, Mike lost his leg in a shark attack on the North Shore of Kauai while surfing with his buddy at his favourite surf spot. However, recounting the incident with him and his life ever since, tragic is not a word that comes to mind.
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When asked about a picture I found of him in the hospital the day after the incident with a huge smile on his face, Mike simply says, “I was just so happy and grateful to be alive.” He is the kind of guy who was back out in the lineup six weeks later at the same surf break. “My friends love surfing with me now because they know that it’s near impossible they’ll get bit by a shark.”
worldsocialmedia.directory/mike-coots/
influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@mikecoots Influencers Magazine caught up with Mike Coots for a quick Q&A session.
1. Did you travel in 2020? I was fortunate to visit New Zealand at the beginning of the year, and since then I’ve been home on Kaua’i until a fast dive trip in Mexico last week. Our island has a strict 10 day stay at home quarantine (which I am in the middle of now) anytime you fly in.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? It would have to be my first trip to Tiger Beach, The Bahamas. I had not dived with tiger sharks until that trip (the same species that took my leg). My mind was blown. Six days of incredible water visibility, with lots and lots of sharks.
2. Where were you in lockdown?
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most?
At home here on the isle of Kaua’i.
Fresh, cold coconut water. No beverage can beat that.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Boat! Although the stoke factor diminishes when the seas get rough, I feel so alive the entire time at sea.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? Toothbrush, wallet, passport, phone, any clothes I can grab, a divemask, fins, and surfboard.
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought? I love bringing chocolate-covered macadamia nuts everywhere I travel. Not useful, but everyone always enjoys them. A great way to share a bit of Aloha.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? The mountains of Colorado, then the Maldives.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? Christchurch.
INFLUENCERS
Q&A
10. Window or aisle seat? Definitely window.
11. Where did you grow up? The north shore of Kaua’i, Hawaii. Also spent two years of my teens living in New Zealand.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? It was spent with family on the island, and we often travelled to Oahu for Christmas Day.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? It began with MySpace, and I thought it would be neat to share photos as I learned to surf with a prosthetic leg. I was ashamed of it, and always wore pants except when in the ocean. I received the nicest
comments, and that helped me become comfortable in my skin (or carbon and titanium in my case).
16. What’s on your playlist? Frank Sinatra, Billie Eilish, Kalapana, The Weeknd, Brent Cobb and James Taylor.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer?
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
Having a platform to share the threats our seas are facing.
I’ve been fortunate not to have one yet. Knock on wood.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite?
18. What places are top of your bucket list?
My favourite image of 2020 is an image of a backwash wave of surfer Kainehe Hunt. We shot it at the beginning of a remote coastline at sunset, and it was technically a very difficult shot. It was one of those moments when all the elements came together and we pulled it off. I had the image in my head for a few years, and on the eve of Thanksgiving, we nailed it..
Norway and Cocos Island.
19. What has 2020 taught you? Slow down, and celebrate the little moments around you.
20. Where will you go in 2021? New Zealand, Guadalupe Island, and Iceland.
influencers MAGAZINE
interview
Sharing my images is like therapy We Zoom with survivor Mike Coots, eye to eye with sharks.
Mike Coots is on a mission with social media. “I want to look back and think I did all I could to save our oceans.” But his mission is a two prong attack. “I’m disabled. I lost my leg. And I want to show that disability is not really something to stop you doing what you love, or want, to do.” Mike grew up on Kaua’i in Hawaii. The sea in his blood. A passionate surfer, his life changed early one morning when a shark bit his leg, clean off. But instead of rage, this seismic event brought intense love into Mike’s life. “Sharks are beautiful creatures who are misunderstood. They don’t need to be demonised. I want to show a different narrative to what Hollywood is showing. There’s beauty to them. They’ve got personality and they’re much needed in our marine ecosystem. You know, we can coexist with them.” And coexist he does. Using social media as his therapy. “I went off to study art in Santa Barbara and I wore pants every day. I was ashamed of my prosthetic. Most of my classmates didn’t know I was missing a limb. But then I started surfing
again.” Mike put a camera on his board and posted it to MySpace. “To see if anybody liked it... and people wrote the nicest things. And then I started wearing shorts again.” Today Mike regularly posts inspiring images of himself: surfing, swimming, living. And he posts portraits of sharks too, inspired by old Vogue magazine covers. “Back in the day, every model looked to camera, you stared into their world. Everything is in the eyes. And it’s the same with sharks. I look for shark expressions, a smirk, a smile, a glint, something where you can almost see yourself. I’m always looking. I kinda want to zig when everyone’s zagging.” Which is pretty breathtaking seeing as Mike Coots was nearly killed by a shark in four short seconds when he was just 18. “I was surfing with some friends early in the morning. I hadn’t caught a wave yet and I saw a beautiful one coming. As I started paddling, a tiger shark came up and grabbed onto my legs, clamped onto me really hard. It was a flight or fight moment. I
punched it a couple of times on the nose and it let go. I got back on my board and I started paddling in. I felt a bit of spasming, an uncontrollable shake on my leg and I thought it was the shark finishing me off. I looked over, expecting to see jaws and it was, instead, my leg. Severed right off. I didn’t feel it come off, or anything. It was very fast. The guy next to me saw it happen, it really freaked him out, I remember he was as white as a ghost, his eyes were popping out of his head. My friends saw me catch a wave in and they thought I had a red wetsuit top wrapped around my leg... they made a tourniquet, which I later found, saved my life, and I was rushed to the emergency room. I spent about a month bedridden. And then, once the doctors said I could get back in the water, I was back in the water.” Just like that. No fear, no hesitation. “The hardest part wasn’t being limbless, it was not going in the water for a month.” “It’s such a rare thing to happen.”
“AS I LOOK AT THE SAME TYPE OF SHARK THAT NEARLY KILLED ME, I DON’T SEE FEAR, I DON’T SEE HATE...”
influencers MAGAZINE
interview
Although it happened to Mike’s Aunty Kathleen too, she had a chunk taken out of her by a tiger shark. “She got bit on her butt and got one stitch!” “You see, most shark attacks are an investigatory bite, they’re not coming back and eating every last little piece of you. Most of it is mistaken identity. If sharks wanted to eat humans, they’d head straight for the thousands of people on Waikiki beach!” Mike even has a favourite shark, “Buttface in the Bahamas – I’ve seen her on three trips, she’s a bit cheeky with me, she comes up behind me!” He just finds it all so awe inspiring. “I was on a jet ski a month ago and I saw a tiger shark and it got me so
excited. It feels like you’re just whimsically running into a dinosaur. I turned off my jet ski and was about to jump in and take some photos and it just swam right by. I felt it was a really cool encounter.” At the beginning of 2020 Mike was on a great white shark dive off Stuart Island in New Zealand. He was due to head to Mexico and the Bahamas too. For now though he’s enjoying the novelty of Hawaii’s empty beaches. And, at Thanksgiving, he finally managed to get a shot he’s spent two years on, “it’s a surfer riding a backwash with an explosion!” It’s an epic shot showing strength and light - like Mike Coots himself – with a backdrop of, the sea almighty...
“IF SHARKS WANTED TO EAT HUMANS, THEY’D HEAD STRAIGHT FOR THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ON WAIKIKI BEACH!”
influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Miss Hattan @misshattan
Misshattan blends her love for aerial perspectives and exciting destinations with an inspiring sensory experience. After leaving her corporate job in finance to pursue her passion for photography, Misshattan consistently creates inspiring imagery. When it comes to her work, one can expect an intense desire for travel and experiences fused with an essence of serenity amongst adrenaline-inducing perspectives.
She took Instagram by storm, providing the world with a captivating glimpse into the bustling life of a daring native New Yorker. She continues to share her life journey, travels, and photography through various social media outlets. At any given moment you can catch her soaring through the skyline on a helicopter, eating at delicious restaurants, or flying to her next destination to snap mesmerizing photos.
The Misshattan brand not only provides magnetizing photography; it serves as a mantra for those who have the audacity to pursue their dreams.
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world travel influencers bronze category
Pixelville @pixelville
Travel, landscape, and cityscape photographer well known for introducing new angles, in particular a lot of aerial shots, while capturing skylines of cities. She often takes photos from the rooftops of skyscrapers.
Her artistic photographs on her pixelville Instagram account have earned her 120,000 followers. She is originally from Lebanon, but was raised in Dubai. Her real name is Jumana Jolie
The first photo on her account was a picture published in January of 2015 of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper.
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influencers MAGAZINE
world travel influencers bronze category
Riva G @riva_g_
Riva fell in love with yoga over 15 years ago and hasn't looked back since. Her desire to share this passion led her to working as a yoga model and a contributing writer to Yoga Magazine, Huffington Post, & other publications.
In addition to her creative work, Riva is a certified Yoga & Pilates instructor and enjoys teaching customized classes to her private clients. She lives near NYC with her husband, three kids, and their rescue-dog, Winnie.
The natural progression to Creative Director ensued after filling the role for many of her modeling shoots. By combining her passion and creativity, Riva is dedicated to capturing unique and memorable images through the beauty of yoga.
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twenty questions
@riva_g_ Influencers Magazine caught up with Riva G to ask her about her life as an influencer.
1. Did you travel in 2020? I was able to travel to France, Mexico, and Israel all before Covid hit the US in March, and we went into lockdown. I was also able to do some domestic travel in the US (Florida, Chicago, Arizona, Nevada, and California).
2. Where were you in lockdown? At home, just outside of Manhattan, New York.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? A trip to Norway with my hubby in 2018 to celebrate our anniversary. It was so incredibly picturesque and romantic.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most? Healthy, vegetarian food, because it’s not always easy to find on the road.
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? I took a train ride in Norway that was so incredibly scenic, but nothing beats air travel when it comes to speed and convenience.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag?
lots of kids, food, games, and fun.
Comfy shoes, my camera, phone, and a few cute outfits.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer?
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought?
It was really great finding a community of people who shared my passion for health, wellness, yoga and travel.
My travel tripod and external camera-timer, so I can get great pics wherever I go when I’m on my own.
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? Probably a road trip through France and/or Italy.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? London.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? Getting hired to travel the world and work with incredible clients all while doing what I love.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite?
Aisle.
A photo taken at the summit of Cathedral Rock in Sedona just as the sun began to set and the sky was turning golden.
11. Where did you grow up?
16. What’s on your playlist?
Chicago.
My playlist is all over the place... Rihanna, Duffy, Two Feet, The Lumineers, Janice Joplin, Carla Morrison, Billie Eilish, and Cigarettes After Sex, just to name a few artists on there.
10. Window or aisle seat?
12. What were your holidays like as a child? Very family-oriented, I come from a big, close family. There was always
INFLUENCERS
Q&A 17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
18. What place is top of your bucket list?
Thankfully I haven’t felt in danger during any of my travels. Having an airline lose my luggage which contained clothing that I was getting hired to wear was a frustrating moment.
Japan.
one place. That I don’t need to be in an exotic location to stay creative. That being able to travel all over in the world is not something I will ever take for granted again.
19. What has 2020 taught you? That as much as I love to travel, it’s also nice to slow down and stay in
20. Where will you go in 2021? I hope somewhere exciting!
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world travel influencers bronze category
Ronan Donovan @ronan_donovan
In 2011, Ronan Donovan was researching chimpanzees in Uganda’s Kibale National Park for Harvard professor Richard Wrangham when he made the images that helped him establish a career as a conservation photographer. Part of his work involved climbing fig trees to observe the chimps, and he brought his camera with him, creating a series of photographs of the primates from above. Wrangham sent the images to wildlife photojournalist Tim Laman, who put Donovan in touch with Kathy Moran, National Geographic’s senior editor for natural history. That put Donovan on Moran’s radar, but it wasn’t until 2014 that Moran asked if he’d like to try assisting UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
photographer Michael “Nick” Nichols on a project about Yellowstone National Park. Moran initially gave Donovan a two-week contract to see if he and Nichols clicked. He ended up assisting Nichols for several months until a need arose to cover Yellowstone’s gray wolves as part of the same project, Nichols pushed for Donovan to get the assignment. Donovan spent the next year on that work, which was published in the May 2016 issue alongside stories by Nichols, Erika Larsen, David Guttenfelder and others.
worldsocialmedia.directory/ronan-donovan/
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world travel influencers bronze category
Shawn Heinrichs @shawnheinrichs
Art is my passion, conservation is my purpose, and for me the two are inseparable. I have found art is the most powerful tool I can contribute to help protect the ocean’s most threatened species and habitats. Art is a universal language that opens people’s hearts and my aim is use art in in all its forms to connect people on an emotional level with majestic yet endangered marine wildlife and inspire them to act before it is too late.
reconnecting people with the beauty and vulnerability of marine species, we intend to ignite a new level of curiosity and passion for marine conservation. Shawn Heinrichs is an artist and Emmy-award winning cinematographer, photographer and marine conservationist. His stunning and often stark artwork is fueled by his passion to protect the oceans, and the profound recognition that people only protect what they love.
We believe art is an essential communication tool in halting the destruction of threatened species and we intend to do our part. By
UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
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influencers MAGAZINE
twenty questions
@shawnheinrichs Influencers Magazine asked Shawn Heinrichs twenty questions about life as an influencer.
1. Did you travel in 2020? Yes: Raja Ampat (Indonesia), New Zealand (N. Island), Mexico (Isla Mujeres, Baja), Crested Butte, Colorado.
2. Where were you in lockdown? Boulder, Colorado.
3. What’s been your favourite trip ever, and why? Raja Ampat, Indonesia – the epicenter of global marine biodiversity, an ecosystem of such staggering beauty and mindblowing diversity.
4. When you’re away, what food do you miss most?
7. What’s been the most useful item you’ve bought?
Plant-based, organic food homecooked in my kitchen!
I’m a filmmaker and photographer… my Canon and RED cameras of course!
5. What’s your favourite mode of travel: train, plane, boat or automobile? Boat! Sailing through uninhabited islands in remote corners of the ocean.
6. You have 5 minutes to pack, what’s going in your bag? Passport, wallet, iPhone, cameras, lenses, batteries, charges, computer, hard drives, dive gear, and go!
8. Where would you honeymoon if you were marrying in 2021? Misool Eco Resort in Raja Ampat… hands down the most exclusive resort located in the heart of marine biodiversity.
9. Where would you go for a city break in 2021? Los Angeles. There is always so much going on there, so much creativity and I have lots of community there.
10. Window or aisle seat? Window seat – so I can sleep and no one bothers me!
11. Where did you grow up? Durban, South Africa – exploring the Wild Coast ocean and beaches.
12. What were your holidays like as a child? We did driving holidays in the safari parks in South Africa, where lions
INFLUENCERS
Q&A climbed our car roof and elephants brushed against our bumpers.
13. Why did you decide to start posting/become an influencer? As a longtime environmental activist and storyteller, my social platforms finally gave me the publishing freedom I had always craved to share my conservation message with the world.
14. What’s been your biggest highlight since becoming an influencer? The biggest highlights have been those pivotal moments when my social platforms have inspired my community to take action and spur an important conservation outcome.
15. Out of all the photos you’ve taken this year, what’s your favourite? My favourite shot was of a massive whale shark framed by a school of manta rays, a shot I had chased for over a decade! https://www.instagram.com/p/CIJb nsxJ2r3/?utm_source=ig_web_cop y_link
16. What’s on your playlist? Believer – Samuel J, Breathe Me – Sia, Threshold – Mc Yogi, and Spirit Bird – Xavier Rudd.
18. What place is top of your bucket list?
17. What’s been your scariest moment travelling?
I want to spend an hour with the mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda…a lifetime moment!
When I arrived at my destination in Jakarta and in my exhausted state, thought I had left my backpack with all my camera gear in the Tokyo airport boarding gate!
19. What has 2020 taught you? 2020 has taught me the power of gratitude, for my family, friends,
community, and to have a career filled with deep purpose and inspiring experiences.
20. Where will you go in 2021? In 2021, my adventures will take me to West Papua, Indonesia, Baja and Isla Mujeres, Mexico, New Zealand and the wilderness of the western United States.
influencers MAGAZINE
interview
Sea change We journey into the deep with Emmy award winning Cinematographer, Shawn Heinrichs.
“The humpback whale had decided her baby was going to meet a human. And that human was me.”
underwater exploitation, “I want a new narrative - celebrate, sustain, grow and thrive.”
It was one of the most profound moments of Shawn Heinrichs’ life. He was diving in the kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific in 2012.
His list of accomplishments is long. Multiple awards for TV and film, he’s at the helm of huge global conservation projects and he’s got more blue-chip environmental work in the pipeline.
“I stopped swimming and she pushed the baby right up to my camera. She was the size of a school bus, and her baby was 4 metres long! I couldn’t look through the camera I was just staring, and then the baby decides it’s cool and she pulls always from her mummy and puts her eye right up against my lens, literally touching distance. She gives me a glance, checking me out and then slowly comes past. My mask was full of tears, my heart so full and in that moment I realised that this was a species we’d hunted almost to the brink of extinction. This mother had likely seen family members slaughtered with harpoons and here she was bringing her baby to the very species that had pushed her to the brink of demise. It was like she was forgiving us.” Shawn Heinrichs is on a mission. He’s determined to change decades of
And his work is stunning. Truly stunning, and a mirror reflecting the beauty and vulnerability of marine life. “When you look at my photos, I want you to feel something. Before you even think. I want to you to feel excitement, energy, vulnerability, passion. Only then will you help.” Capturing a feeling, that’s what it’s all about. And that’s got to be the ultimate for any photographer. Attaining that singular, profound, fleeting moment. And for Shawn, that can bring a sea change. “I grew up in Durban, South Africa until I was 7. The oceans were mind blowing. Going to the beach you would see thousands of birds, shoals of sardines 7 miles long, dolphins, sharks, and humpback whales
leaping in the distance. For me, as a child, the oceans were incredibly abundant and vibrant. I moved to America and later when I got back into the ocean, I discovered it was a mere shadow of its former glory. We’d lost so much, just in my childhood.” But he didn’t dive straight into conservation work. “I first worked in business but I realised the natural world was where my heart was. I carved my path. I spent a decade working undercover in the illicit wildlife trade - it was challenging, dangerous but it was important. And it took me all over the world. But it was the world of traditional publishing. You were hoping someone would pick up your story - you’d package it, position it the way you thought editors wanted it, all in the hope of getting published. So many really important issues and stories never saw the light of day. And that was an immense frustration. A lot of species were being destroyed and there was nowhere to express what was happening.” And then, he started posting online.
“ART IS MY PASSION, CONSERVATION IS MY PURPOSE, AND FOR ME THE TWO ARE INSEPARABLE.”
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interview
“People said it would be difficult to grow my account but I didn’t care. I published the stories that mattered, on a cause that I cared about and if it grew, it grew - and it did! I discovered people were really hungry for what I had to say. All my growth is organic you won’t see promotions from my account. I want my followers to be there because of my message.” And Shawn is being heard. “We did a campaign, early 2020, addressing the causes of the Covid pandemic. The amount of shares and plays relative to my audience size was incredible. 50,000 shares on an audience of 200,000. The message hit home.”
“I publish solutions. Months of storytelling goes into my posts. It takes a while to hit go. I don’t put up conservation news, I want people to do something to help.” And on that note, he’s joined forces with Paul Nicklen and Christina Mittermeier and re-launched Sea Legacy. Paul Nicklen alone has 6.8 million followers on Instagram. They’re a force to be reckoned with. “We’re the translators for the species that don’t have a voice.” He’s also behind a new global movement, Only One. Launched in 2020, alongside 60 conservation organisations, it aims to engage
audiences of all diversities and cultures. “We want to reverse the massive decline in biodiversity and species across the planet.” “When we dive, we form these really intimate bonds with these animals. To me, they are highly sentient, emotional, connected beings.” Shawn Heinrichs’ byline on his Instagram biog simply says mantra/shark defender. He’s more than that, he’s a spokesman, an advocate, a champion for all of sea world.
“MONTHS OF STORYTELLING GOES INTO MY POSTS. IT TAKES A WHILE TO HIT GO.”
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world travel influencers bronze category
Xavier & Katie Ritzi @xkflyaway
UP TO 499K FOLLOWERS
Meet one of the most humble and successful travel Instagrammer couple Xavier & Katie, more commonly known as @xkflyaway on Instagram. Coming from the USA, we speak with them on how their beautiful pictures get featured by big accounts all the time and their inspirations behind their photos. Their Instagram feed is addictive to look at!
When we go to major cities, Xavier will take a ton of street shots and convert them into black & white. He posts a lot of urban pics on his page @mi5ter_x
We haven’t been to many urban places in a while, so the photos we take are usually landscape shots.
We saved up all our money, sold our stuff, and set out for a 1 year trip. We just try and stick to our budget, but of course it’s not always easy!
We usually shoot early in the morning then at night night we spend time engaging with other accounts. If we are travelling, we will usually find wifi at the airport or a cafe somewhere.
worldsocialmedia.directory/xavier-and-katie-ritzi/
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interview
A life-changing year We caught up with Icelandic inuencer Sorelle Amore to get her thoughts on 2020.
2020 shook the world up. Before this year, I believe the world was hypnotised, believing that bigger was better. The more you had, the more you could show off, the more important you were. Deep down we all knew we didn't support this type of existence but we couldn't stop. It seemed beyond our control to snap ourselves out of this hysteria. And then...well...2020 happened. Some were faced with major loss lives, purpose, financial loss. My prayers are with you constantly. For some, the year wasn't as devastating and I think a lot of people felt they could breathe for the first time. No one expected you to be great that year. A lot of us had the opportunity to rest, not to try to make an appearance at every social event just to prove you were fun or someone special. Not having to commute to work for hours a day.
Everyone's lives were somehow put on pause and all of us went into deep reflection about our contributions to the world. We had to face off with the darkest parts of ourselves, the darkest parts of humanity. Personally for myself, it was a slap in the face where I saw myself travelling down a path I didn't want to go down. In hindsight now I can say that the best thing that came out of 2020 for me was finally not needing to travel excessively. I knew it was bad for the world and my health but "it was my industry", or so I justified it. The more places I visited in a short period of time, the more it amazed and engaged my audience and in the same breath made them feel like they were missing out. It was probably like watching a car crash. You shouldn't be looking, but you couldn't help it.
I now no longer miss that life for myself at all. I never want to engage in meaningless travel again. In the future I aim to travel to either support great causes, share important stories, but really, my biggest wish is just to travel to see my family which is scattered all over the world, and go with them on amazing slow travel local trips that nurture the soul. Where the memories will last a lifetime. Where joy is the most important aspect of the trip, not what we did, what we bought or what pictures we took. I personally can't speak for everyone and their own shifts after 2020, but frankly, I no longer care to live an impressive life to others. I care to live a life that fulfills me to the core and where I can genuinely say, I did my best to leave the world better than when I came.
socialmedia.directory/sorelle-amore/
“EVERYONE'S LIVES WERE SOMEHOW PUT ON PAUSE AND ALL OF US WENT INTO DEEP REFLECTION ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WORLD.”
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GLOBAL POPULATION
7,520,065,232
TOTAL INTERNET USERS
3,686,032,678
ACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA USERS
2,789,582,541
A CONNECTED PLANET
social media glossary
The A-Z of Social Media Social Media is full of terms and phrases that can leave the unititiated scratching their heads. To help you along, we have put together this descriptive selection.
Above the line Above the line (ATL) Marketing means that the advertising is going to be directed towards the mass market, not focusing on a specific target group. ATL strategies help companies reach a larger audience and create brand visibility.
Accounts Reached The number of unique accounts who viewed a content.
Activation A marketing initiative where the brand generates consumer interest through brand interaction and experiences.
Actual Impressions Rate Impressions divided by total number of followers.
AddThis A web-tracking technology company that collects personal
information in the form of an email address when the service to share via email is requested. It also provides publishers with increased traffic and in-depth analytics.
AďŹƒliate Marketing A type of performance-based marketing in which a brand pays compensation to third-party publishers to generate traffic or leads to the company's website.
Algorithm A detailed series of rules, instructions and computer codes for carrying out an operation and delivering a result. Algorithms are used in social media to deliver content to the users. These algorithms are managed by dedicated teams of software engineers, data scientists, content strategists, and more, so nothing you see is an accident.
Always On (Program) An ongoing, non-campaign approach that aims to create remarkable brand experiences at scale through systematic optimization, i.e. websites running 24/7, content available on-demand.
AMA An acronym for “Ask Me Anything� which originated in a popular subreddit where people use the term to prompt questions from other users.
Ambassador An advocate of a particular company's products and services who represents the brand in a positive light and by doing so helps increase brand awareness and sales.
Amplify To drive additional distribution through optimized content.
API
Audience Insights
An acronym for “Application Programming Interface”. API is a documented interface that allows an application to extract information from a piece of software and use that information in their own application, or sometimes for data analysis.
The different characteristics that define the audience of an influencer. These might be age, gender, location, occupation, nationality, etc. This information is interesting for brands or advertisers who are interested in partnering with influencers whose audience matches their target customers.
Audience People or market segment at whom an advertising message or campaign is aimed. An audience can also refer to a group of social media users who follow and engage with an influencer. An influencer’s audience is their most valuable asset.
Audience-First The practice of reverse-engineering the selection of talent based on who their audience is, to insure that the right audience is reached in a campaign.
Avatar An icon that represents a person online. Avatars are commonly used in multiplayer gaming, online communities, and Web forums.
metric for the ranking of a website. A site with a lot of backlinks tended to rank higher on search engines.
Benchmarking The process of measuring a business's performance against a point of reference considered to be the best in the industry, aka “best in class”, to determine success or failure.
Bio Audience’s first impression of a user or a brand.
Bitly Backlinks “Incoming” or “inbound” links to a webpage or the entire website. When a webpage links to any other website, it’s called a backlink. In the past, backlinks were a significant
A free URL shortening service that provides statistics for the links users share online. Bitly is popularly used to condense long URLs to make them easier to share on social networks such as Twitter.
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social media glossary
Blog
Bounce Rate
A word that was created from two words: “web log.” It is a platform maintained by a writer or a group of writers where they share regular entries of content on a specific topic. "Blog" can also be used as a verb.
A metric used in web traffic analysis that measures the percentage of visitors who land on a website but leave quickly without clicking or interacting with any section of the webpage. For instance, if 100 people visit a site, and 50 of them quickly leave, the website has a bounce rate of 50%. Websites intend to have as low of a bounce rate as possible.
Blog Talk Radio The world's largest online talk radio hosting platform. It is a free web application that allows users to create live and on-demand talk content.
BoardReader A free search engine that aggregates data from social media networks.
Bookmarking A Web browser feature used to save a web page’s URL address for future reference.
meets the brand’s standards and is able to generate optimum engagement.
Call to action (CTA) A button, or simply a text link message that leads the visitor to pursue a certain action. It refers to the next step a marketer wants its audience to take.
Brand Awareness
Campaign
The level of consumer recognition of a brand. Ideally, awareness of the brand may include the qualities that distinguish the product from its competition.
Tactical execution of a particular marketing strategy to promote a product or service.
Brief A written document that clearly outlines the campaign goals, guidelines, CTA, dedicated landing page and deliverables. Briefs guide influencers to ensure their content
Canva A simplified graphic-design tool with easy-to-use features and userfriendly templates that adhere to the required dimensions for sharable social images on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Caption
Content Approval
A piece of text introducing a post. Each social platform has different types of caption parameters: Twitter for example allows up to 280 characters, while Instagram’s limit is at 2,200.
The content produced by the influencers must first be approved by the brand or their partner.
Clickbait A hyperlink or a thumbnail link used to attract attention on a web page to lure visitors into clicking on deceptive and misleading content.
Clickthrough Rate (CTR) The ratio of users who click on a certain link to the number of total users who visit a page, post or advertisement. The higher the CTR percentage, the more people went through.
Collaboration The relationship between a brand and an influencer where the influencer produces content for the brand in exchange for compensation.
Collective Intelligence A kind of wisdom and knowledge that grows out of a group when working together, in order to achieve goals that an individual, even the most gifted, would not be able to accomplish alone. It appears in consensus decision-making on social media.
Community Manager A person who builds and grows a brand’s online presence and seizes opportunities to interact with the audience in order to increase brand awareness and loyalty.
Connections A term used on LinkedIn to describe professional contacts. It is the equivalent of “Friends” on Facebook.
Content Marketing The strategy of consistently producing high-quality content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
Consideration The extent to which consumers consider a brand for a given purchase occasion.
Conversion The proportion of people visiting a website or viewing an ad and completing a desired action. Conversion is measured by influencers using tracking links or promo codes. The percentage of total visitors that convert is called your conversion rate.
Cost-per-Acquisition (CPA) The metric that measures the cost to acquire one paying customer on a campaign or channel level. It is calculated by dividing the total media investment by number of acquisitions. E.g. $100,000 media budget / 1,000 sales = $100 CostPer-Acquisition.
Cost-per-Click (CPC) The metric that measures the cost of one customer clicking on an advertisement or link and landing on the company’s website. E.g. $100,000 media budget / 100,000 clicks = $1.00 Cost-Per-Click.
Cost-per-Engagement (CPE) The cost that is associated with each engagement or interaction. An engagement can be anything from pausing or muting a video to submitting contact details. The cost per engagement is calculated by dividing the cost of the specific
content by the total engagements it generates. E.g. $100,000 media budget / 200,000 engagements = $0.50 Cost-Per-Engagement.
Cost-per-Mille (CPM) or Costper-Thousand (CPT) Refers to the cost per one thousand units. The unit is typically clicks, views, followers, or impressions.
Craigslist A classified advertisements website used to sell a variety of products and services.
Creative Commons A non-profit organization that provides free copyright licenses for digital work.
Crowdsourcing Similar to outsourcing, crowdsourcing refers to the act of soliciting a large group of people for their skills, ideas and participation to generate content, typically in an online setting. It is powered by new technologies, social media and web 2.0.
Deliverables The expected results to be produced by the influencers. It can be raising brand awareness, increasing sales, reaching new market segments, etc.
Digg A social networking website that aggregates news allowing users to vote for web content.
Disclosure A document clearly stating the purpose of a collaboration between the influencer and the brand.
Disqus A blog comment hosting service and moderation tool.
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social media glossary
Distribution Channel
Engagement Rate
Follower
A platform used to share content on.
A metric that determines the level of engagement and interactions the content generates. The formula is generally total engagement divided by total Gross Reach or Follower Count.
A user who subscribes to an account to stay up-to-date with its content.
Earned Media Forrester defines earned media as “when customers become the channel.” Your brand earns media when people start talking about you (usually in a good way). According to Nilsen, earned media is the most trusted form of advertising out there.
Eventbrite
An online discussion site where people exchange ideas and discuss issues.
An event management platform that allows anyone to create, share, find and attend events.
Connections one has on Facebook.
Earned Media Value
Exclusivity Clause A specific right or restriction a brand or an agency might enact during the collaboration with an influencer.
The value of social media exposure gained through word-of-mouth, recommendations, or conversations about the brand.
Ebook A book made available in a digital form
eCommerce Refers to the commercial transactions conducted online and the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions.
Employee Advocacy When employees use their own social presence to promote the company they work for.
Endorsement Celebrity endorsements use the fame of a celebrity to get people excited about a brand or a product. An endorsement on LinkedIn refers to an instance in which another LinkedIn user recognizes you for one of the skills you have listed on your profile.
Engagement A term used in social media and influencer marketing to describe the long term commitment of users towards a brand or an influencer.
Forum
A social networking platform, created by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, to connect people with friends, family, and businesses from all over the world.
Fans Users who like your Facebook page.
Featured Snippet An instant summary of an answer to a user’s query that Google draws from a website and places right into search results.
Friends Full Commercial Content Usage The negotiated and secured terms to the right to use influencergenerated content. This means that brands have the right to use the content produced by influencers across their channels, but do not own the content.
GaggleAMP A cloud-based employee advocacy tool that allows marketers to send requests to employees to digitally carry out promotional actions in a variety of ways.
Generation Z
The platform interface where users view the content that is published by the people and influencers they’re following.
The demographic cohort following generation Y. It is the first generation of true digital natives born from the mid-1990s through the second decade of this century, within the technological age. Generation Z will be setting the pace for social innovation from here on out.
Flat Lay
Geotagging
An image or a style of photograph, usually taken from a bird’s-eye view to showcase a group of items laid out on a flat.
The process of adding geographical metadata to media such as websites, images, videos, and various other data types and sources. The data usually consists of coordinates like latitude, longitude and street addresses.
Feed
Flickr An image and video hosting service that allows users to store then share photos with others.
Geo-targeting
Hashtag
IGTV
Also known as local PPC, Geotargeting is the method of determining a website visitor’s geolocation, and delivering different content to that visitor based on their location. Geo-targeting is used to customize an advertisement for a product or service to a specific market based on the geographic location of potential buyers. This includes country, region/state, city, metro code/zip code, organization, IP address, ISP or other criteria.
A word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media and websites to identify content on a specific topic. They are searchable keywords, for example #relatable.
A standalone vertical video application launched by Instagram. Whereas Instagram allows the publication of videos of up to 60 seconds, the new app has space for videos of up to one hour. Each user’s page is named "channel".
Haul When an influencer unboxes recently purchased items and shares them with his or her community.
Impressions The number of times a specific content has been displayed on a screen.
GIF Stands for “Graphics Interchange Format.” It is an often animated raster graphics file containing a number of images or frames in a single file.
Google Chrome A free Internet browser for accessing the World Wide Web and running Web-based applications.
Google Documents A free Web-based application for creating and editing private and public, word processing and spreadsheet documents.
Guest Post When a website invites another writer to publish content on their website.
Handle @username
Hard Bounce An e-mail message which has been returned to the sender because the recipient’s address is wrong or invalid. A hard bounce may occur because the domain name does not exist or because the recipient is unknown, misspelled, or blocked.
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social media glossary
Inbound Marketing
Influencer Representation
A strategy that focuses on attracting potential customers, convert them into leads, customers, and advocates, and analyze the process along the way, via content marketing, SEO, social media marketing, branding, surveys, personalization, and CRM.
Influencers who have agents and management teams who manage them with collaborations, deals and contracts with brands and agencies.
Influencer A creative content creator that has the ability to influence the behavior or perception of others thanks to the position or relationship they have with their audience.
Influencer Marketing
Instagram A social networking service owned by Facebook, Inc, allowing users to share photo and video content with their communities.
Instagram Bots A computer software programmed to perform actions such as likes, comments and follows of other accounts, through automation.
The practice of targeting key industry leaders to drive brand message and awareness to a specific market segment in order to help the brand achieve marketing objectives.
Instagram Business Account
Influencer Rate Card
Instagram Stories
An outline of an influencer's service costs, which generally reflects the cost of content integrations and sponsored posts.
The type of Instagram account that provides businesses with essential data and deeper insights of audience behavior and and how their posts perform.
An Instagram feature that allows users to capture and post related images and video content in a
slideshow format on their profile. The content expires within 24 hours, unless highlighted on the account profile page.
Instagram Takeover The process of taking responsibility for a brand's Instagram account for a short period of time, to share content with the brand’s audience, from an influencer’s perspective. Instagram takeovers are an interesting way for brands, individuals and influencers to collaborate and cross-promote content.
Integrated Marketing A strategic approach to creating a unified, seamless, and multidimensional brand experience, targeting defined audiences and individuals, by coordinating all aspects of marketing of a brand including paid media, earned media and owned media.
Interaction Rate Likes and comments divided by impressions. See ‘Engagement Rate’.
Interruption Marketing
Landing Page
Macro Influencer
When an advertiser pays money to interrupt a viewer’s attention to generate interest about a certain product of service.
A standalone web page a user lands on in response to clicking on a search engine optimized result, online ad or through email marketing, created for the purpose of lead generation.
An influencer with a large following on major social networks.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) The trackable and quantifiable metric that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Organizations use KPIs to evaluate their success at reaching targets.
Keyword Advertising An online advertising form in which a brand pays to have an ad appear in the results listing when a user types a particular word or phrase to search for information on a Web search engine. Advertisers typically bid on highly relevant keywords for a costeffective online marketing campaign. I.e. “Buy boots” is a short keyword, whereas “Looking to purchase shoes from a boutique” is a long tail keyword.
Keyword Stuffing The practice of inserting a large number of keywords into Web content in the attempt to manipulate a page's ranking in search results and drive more traffic to the site. Search engines can tell when keywords are abnormally distributed throughout the text or in a website’s meta tags. Websites are then penalized and appear lower down in search results.
Klout Klout was a website and mobile application that indicated how influential an account is, based on its social media analytics.
Mapping Networks
A prospective customer in the sales funnels who shows interest in a product or service.
A process used to visualize physical and virtual connectivity of networks. A Network Map is one tool to provide network users, managers, administrators, and IT teams with a better understanding of network performance.
Licensing Acquiring
Mashup
The right to use the influencergenerated content based on permissions or usage rights.
A content mash-up refers to the act of creating a new content by combining various content sources.
Lead
Lifestreaming
Media Kit (for influencers)
The practice of documenting an online user’s disjointed social presence in one central location or site.
A digital document containing information about the influencer’s channels, rates, followers, audience profiles, previous collaborations, etc. Influencers use the media kit as a promotional tool when reaching out to brands for collaborations.
Link Building Exchanging links with other websites in order to increase the number and quality of inbound links to another website in hopes of improving its search engine ranking.
Link in Bio A CTA influencers use on Instagram to invite their audience to check out their biography, which contains a URL that leads to an external website.
LinkedIn A social network geared towards professionals. It allows users to grow their networks and advance their careers.
Live Streaming Broadcasting to an audience over the internet in real-time.
Lurker A social media lurker is a user who passively observes content and does not participate.
Media Spend The budget invested by a marketing department in a campaign. Optimizing spend entails bringing more leads into the marketing funnel for the lowest cost.
Meerkat Meerkat was a mobile app that allowed users to live stream through their mobile device.
Meme A funny or interesting thought, idea, joke, or concept that is virallytransmitted. It is typically a captioned photo, video or verbal expression.
Mention When a user references or “mentions” another user or brand by including their @username.
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social media glossary
Metadata
Newsjacking
Owned Media
Basic information about a certain item's content, including titles, descriptions, tags and captions.
The practice of capitalizing on the popularity of a current event in an attempt to generate media attention and boost the brand's exposure or generate sales.
Communication channels that a company exercises full control over and complete ownership of. According to McKinsey, owned media includes brand’s website, email newsletter, social media profiles, and catalogs.
Micro Inuencer An influencer with a small number of followers and expert in a particular niche. These smaller, more focused niche experts connect on a deeper level with their audiences and generate greater engagement.
Niche A small but profitable segment of a market with unique and very specific characteristics or needs.
Millennials
O Brand
Also known as Generation Y or the Net Generation, are the demographic cohort that directly follows Generation X, with birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 1990s.
When content lacks alignment with established brand guidelines: look, feel, messaging, tone of voice, etc.
Moblogging Posting content to a blog using a mobile phone.
Monetize The process of converting nonrevenue-generating assets into a stream of revenue. Monetization happens for influencers when they are able to earn money from created content on their social media accounts or blogs.
Multi Channel Network (MCN) Third-party service providers that offer assistance to multiple channels and content creators in areas such as product, programming, funding, cross-promotion, partner management, monetization/sales or audience development, in exchange for a slice of their income.
On Brand When content is consistent with established brand guidelines.
Organic vs. Paid Content Organic content is permissionbased marketing, using interesting and creative posts to drive engagement. Paid content is bought rather than earned and often closer to interruption marketing. Brands voluntarily boost the reach by using one-time or ongoing payments. These posts can be targeted towards specific demographics and reach a much larger audience than organic content. Paid content is a great way to quickly build brand recognition but it has a high upfront cost.
Optimize To make the best or most effective use. In influencer marketing, optimization refers to maximizing the desired campaign outcomes.
Native Advertising
Outreach
A form of paid advertising that blends into the natural form and function of the platform upon which it appears.
Influencer outreach is the practice of reaching out to influencers who share interest in what your company has to offer.
Page Views The metric used to track the number of views a page on a website got during a specific period of time. On average, a visitor will look at about 2.5 pages per website. Each individual page a visitor views is tracked as a page view.
Paid Reach The number of impressions, earned through a paid model, a post got.
Pandora A free peer-to-peer social online radio station that allows users to create stations based on their favourite artists and types of music.
Permalink A permanent URL referring to a particular blog post or article.
Periscope Live streaming video mobile app purchased by Twitter in February 2015, that allows users to share and experience live video streams direct from their smartphones or tablets.
Permission Marketing A form of advertising where the intended audience receives marketing and other promotional offers upon their consent, rather than being pushed to them.
Pinterest A photo sharing social network, allowing users to share visual content and finding creative ideas
PPC PPC stands for “Pay Per Click.” It is an online advertising model in which an advertiser pays every time a visitor clicks on an ad. PPC campaigns drive traffic to websites.
Product Placement Placing a brand’s specific product within an influencer’s content, through explicitly introducing and mentioning it. The influencer is compensated accordingly for placing the product.
Public Domain A content that is not protected by any copyright law or other restriction. A work in the public domain can be freely used in any way, including commercial uses.
Qualification When assessing influencers for a specific campaign, some brands may have some prerequisites, so a qualification process has to be done.
Quantcast Delivers detailed statistical information about website traffic statistics, audience insights and measurement.
like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more.
publication, page or app, and even organize them for research.
Plandid
Podcast
A portmanteau of “planned” and “candid.” A photo that is supposed to look candid and casual, but is actually strategically planned out.
An episodic series of digital audio or video files delivered via an RSS feed and stored in a digital form, that users can download and playback using a computer or a mobile device.
Pocket Previously known as “Read It Later,” Pocket is a free app that allows users to save or download articles, videos and stories from any
Poll Interaction Rate The share of an audience interacting with the vote feature on Instagram Stories. Votes divided by views.
Reach The total number of users who view a content.
Real-time Marketing A strategy that requires marketers to publish content focused on current, relevant trends and immediate feedback from customers. Oreo’s real-time marketing during the 35-minute power outage at the Super Bowl created a whirlwind of social media activity, casting a spotlight on the brand.
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social media glossary
Real-time Search Indexing live results from social networks into search engine results.
Reddit A social news aggregation website where content is socially curated and promoted by site members through voting and discussions.
Retargeting Also known as Remarketing. It is a display advertising technique that allows marketers to display ads to bounced traffic after they leave a website.
Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) A profitability measure that evaluates the overall effectiveness of a marketing campaign to help marketers make better decisions about allocating future investments.
RSS An acronym for “Really Simple Syndication” or “Rich Site Summary.” It a form of web coding that delivers the most recent content to subscribers.
Selfie A self-portrait photograph taken by oneself using the reverse camera screen on a smartphone or a selfie stick.
SEM An acronym for "Search Engine Marketing." It is a type of internetbased marketing that involves buying PPC ads that display on a search engine results page, to promote websites by increasing their visibility.
SEO An acronym for "Search Engine Optimization." It is the practice of optimizing a website, enabling it to rank higher on a search engine results page, through organic search engine results. The higher the ranking, the more traffic it generates.
SERP An acronym for "Search Engine Results Page." SERP are web pages served to users when a search query is executed.
Sentiment Analysis Also known as “Opinion Mining” or “Emotion AI,” is a computational process that identifies opinions and analyzes a subject’s attitude or emotional reaction towards a specific topic or brand. By using sentiment analysis companies can not only monitor what people say about their brand, but they can deliver what consumers want.
Skype VoIP service, allowing people to make and receive free voice and video calls online.
Slug A portion of a URL which identifies a particular page on a website in an easy to read form.
Snapchat A mobile application which allows users to share chronological content that will only be available for 24 hours.
Social Media Monitoring The process of using social media to track and identify what is being said about a brand online.
discover unique and interesting content across the Web. Moved to Mix.
Swipe up The feature on Instagram Stories and Snapchat that allows users to swipe up on the screen to land on a website.
Social Proof A psychological phenomenon in which people assume a behavior is more correct in a given situation to the degree that they see others performing it. The idea is that since so many people behave in a certain way, it must be the correct behavior. In social media, social proof can be identified by users recommending products and services based on their experiences with a brand.
Social Selling A sales concept in which representatives leverage the power of social communication to interact directly with their prospects and provide them with value. Spam: a broad term that covers inappropriate commercial messages of extremely low value.
Spider Sometimes also referred to as a “bot” or a “crawler,” is an automated program that visits websites and reads their pages and other information in order to create entries for a search engine index, often showing in Google Analytics as junk traffic.
Streaming Media Unlike downloadable podcasts, streaming media refers to video or audio that can be watched or listened to online but not stored permanently.
StumbleUpon StumbleUpon was a free webbrowser extension that helped users
Tag A mention in a post or comment to link another user’s profile on the platform.
Tag Cloud A logical arrangement of keywords within a textual content that describe online content.
Target Audience The intended group of people within the target market to which a message or marketing campaign is aimed.
Terms of Service (TOS) Also known as terms of use and terms and conditions, are the rules a person or organization must agree to abide in order to use a product or a service.
Through the Line (TTL) 360-degree advertising where both ATL and BTL strategies are combined. TTL advertising refers to campaigns that build brands visibility and drive conversions at the same time.
Title Tag An HTML element that describes the topic of a web page. This title can be found in the browser title bar, as well as in the search engine results pages (SERP).
Trendjacking Capitalizing on a viral or buzzworthy topic to boost a brand's exposure.
Total Accounts Reached The total unique accounts that viewed a content.
Total Content Engagement The total number of shares, likes, and comments.
Total Digital Audience The total number of an influencer's potential reach across active social media platforms.
Tracking Links URLs Tracking links are used to direct traffic to a landing page from somewhere other than a call-toaction on a website. Tracking links help measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Trending Topic The most discussed topics on a social media network. These commonly appear on networks like Twitter accompanied by hashtags that allow users to join the conversation or simply browse the related content.
Troll A person who is known for creating conflicts and starting quarrels by reposting inflammatory or off-topic messages in an online community.
Tumblr A micro-blogging platform allowing users to post content to a shortform blog.
Tweepi A social media management tool that allows users to analyze and manage Twitter followers effectively.
Twitter A social media platform launched in 2006 where people communicate in short messages called tweets.
influencers MAGAZINE
social media glossary
Tweetdeck
View-Through Rate
A social media dashboard application that allows users to view multiple timelines in one easy interface.
The number of users who completed a skippable ad divided by the number of impressions served.
Twitterverse Also referred to as the Twittersphere. It is a social media term used to describe Twitter users and their habits.
Unboxing The act of opening packaged products from a box and reviewing them while filming the process. In a haul video, the influencers have purchased the products themselves and share the reviews of the items they bought.
User Experience (UX) The quality of a customer’s perceptions and responses resulting from using a product or a service.
User-Generated Content (UGC) Digital content created and published organically by end users.
User-Interface (UI) The human-machine interaction point to complete tasks.
Vine Vine was a social media platform where users shared six-second-long, looping video clips.
Viral When a content spreads widely through its frequent sharing on the internet.
Virtual World An online computer-simulated environment populated by an online community who can interact with one another.
Visual Content Image, video content and infographics that help a brand’s messages stand out and reach a wider audience. According to Business2community, “40% of online users will provide a more favorable response to visual content than plain textual content.”
Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
Unique Visitor (UI)
The transmission of voice communications over the Internet without having to pay international phone charges.
The number of distinct individuals who have visited a website at least once during a specific period of time.
Webinar
A blog that contains a set of videos
Is an online conference, seminar, presentation or workshop hosted by an individual, allowing participants in different locations to listen and participate.
Views
The number of users who have watched a content.
China’s most popular messaging app released in January 2011. Users can play games, make mobile payments, video calls, order food,
Videoblog (Vlog)
read the news, and even book a doctor.
Weibo A Chinese social media platform; the equivalent of Twitter or Facebook.
Whatsapp The world's biggest messaging app, owned by Facebook. It allows users to send text and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other media.
White Hat A term of ethical digital marketers who completely follow search engine rules and policies and don’t participate in spammy behavior, buying backlinks or any other form of “gaming” search engines.
Widget An element of a Graphical User Interface that displays information or provides a specific way for a user to interact with the operating system or an application.
Word-of-Mouth (WoM) Marketing The marketing strategy that relies on generating natural recommendations and discussions about a product or company, from satisfied customers with their personal communities.
Xenial In influencer marketing, it describes a healthy, working relationship between an influencer and a brand.
Yammer A social networking tool that allows employees to connect and communicate across their organization.
Zapier A web-based service that allows end users to connect the applications and software to automate tasks.
301 Redirect A method of redirecting a user from one URL to another. Used for permanent redirects.
302 Redirect A method of redirecting a user from one URL to another web page, utilized for temporary situations only. For permanent redirects, 301 is used to redirect.
404 Error An error message that means a web page a user is trying to load does not exist in the server.
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