Sydney flies into top 'social' airport list
Sydney airport has made it into the top 10 of a US-dominated list of "social" airports from around the world, according to Facebook research.
Facebook gathered the data for its top "social" airports list from people sharing their location via the social network's Places app and other third-party location services from August 2010 to November 2011.
Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport landed at number seven, showing that Sydneysiders like to tell their friends and family that they're about to go on a trip. Los Angeles' LAX airport is at the top of the list, and the busiest airport in the world, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, came in at number two.
Facebook check-ins were found to be more popular during holiday seasons, and so it comes as no surprise that Christmas and the New Year are the most popular times to find people at an airport.
According to Facebook's research, "airport check-ins quietened down after Christmas on the 25th, but then saw an increase on December 29th through Dec 31st as people travelled to their New Year's Eve destinations".
However, here's a word to the wise: do not announce to the world that you're about to go on holiday; you never know who's watching.
According to the Herald Sun's interview with GIO spokesperson Duncan Bone, "We have seen cases where police suspect people announcing their location on social media might have played a part in a burglary."
The top 25 social airports, according to Facebook, are:
- Los Angeles International Airport
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- Chicago O'Hare International Airport
- San Francisco International Airport
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
- Denver International Airport
- Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
- McCarran International Airport
- Suvarnabhumi International Airport
- Philadelphia International Airport
- Miami International Airport
- Boston Logan International Airport
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport
- John F. Kennedy International Airport
- Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
- San Diego International Airport
- Newark Liberty International Airport
- Washington Dulles International Airport
- Heathrow Airport
- Toronto Pearson International Airport
- Baltimore Washington International Airport
- Portland International Airport
- Fort Lauderdale — Hollywood International Airport
- Salt Lake City International Airport