I wandered lonely as a cloud...just before I tweeted and updated Facebook

About Britain

(Cumbria Tourism)

"Tweet if you see a blooming daffodil" was the recent message from Cumbria Tourism. But this wasn't a call to twitchers. This was a message to the social media-savvy travellers who are fluttering around in the "Twitterverse".

The aim of Cumbria's "Daffs Watch" Twitter and email campaign was to pinpoint where and when people could spot daffodils coming out of deep freeze after the cold winter.

"Thousands use Twitter to keep in touch with the Lake District [@LakeDistrictPR]," say Cumbria Tourism. "We're active tweeters because there's a big audience out there for quick news. Daffs Watch was a great success, with dozens of tweets and photos sent in."

Visit London is also celebrating the success of a recent competition. Twitter followers of @visitlondonweb and Facebook fans of the capital's tourism organisation were alerted to the chance to win a stay in the world's smallest pop-up hotel. Teaming up with Radisson Edwardian they converted a luxury caravan into a mini hotel suite that moved around iconic London sites.

"The campaign was a huge success, with 3,000 entries in 12 days," says Jacqueline French of Visit London.

So what do we stand to gain for our Twittering efforts? And what if, like me, you're new to the whole thing? Where do you start to find the things that interest you?

Wendy Shand, director of family-friendly holiday accommodation company Tots to Travel (@totstotravelmum), says social media's potential is "amazingly powerful".

For novice tweeters, her advice is: "Search for people or organisations with common interests. Try keyword searches for subjects on wefollow.com, follow likeminded tweeters and then others in their networks and it'll soon take off." Once you're up and tweeting, you'll be able to take quick advantage of the latest travel news, opinions and offers, as well as being able interact with campaigns like Daff Watch.

Yes, back to those Lake District daffs. They should be at their best now. So, today, I shall be skipping along Cumbrian lakeshores. And if I switch on the GPS in Twitter – you'll know exactly where I am! Spooky ...