Tourism Currents

Is your U.S. destination working on astrotourism or dark sky tourism projects? Get in touch with your local NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solar System Ambassador.
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Yeah, I didn't know about them, either! 🤯

Credit for this info nugget goes to Anne Marie Deas Bryan with Monroeville Main Street in Alabama. I heard her speak at a breakout session about Main Street science projects at this year's Main Street America conference:

Directory | Solar System Ambassadors – NASA Solar System Exploration NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.

Are you located on or near a designated U.S. scenic byway or historic highway? For the first time in years, we have a true national conference coming up this October in the City of West Memphis, Arkansas, thanks to The Great River Road / Mississippi River Parkway Commission and our clients at the National Scenic Byway Foundation. Would love to see you there!

2026 National Scenic Byways Conference - MRPC Members Join the Great River Road and the National Scenic Byway Association October 6-8 in Arkansas The National Scenic Byway Association (NSBA) and the Mississippi River Parkway Commission (MRPC), which promotes and preserves the Great River Road National Scenic Byway, are collaborating to offer the... Lea...

I follow Mari Smith for updates and insights into Meta products - here is her take on the new Instants feature from Instagram -

So Instagram has a brand new feature + brand new standalone app: "Instants." 🙄

📸 Instants, a new way to share photos in the moment with your Close Friends or mutual followers.
📸 Instants disappear after they’re opened by someone and can’t be viewed after 24 hours.
📸 You can access Instants through the Instagram app OR its standalone app that opens directly to the Instants camera.

Unlike Instagram, which is about curated and polished content, Instants is designed for quick, real-life snapshots. With Instants, you capture a photo with Instagram’s in-app camera and aren’t allowed to edit the image. The format doesn’t allow uploads from your camera, and, although you can add text to your “instants,” you can’t modify them any further. Meta said in a blog post that the idea behind this format is to share authentic moments as they’re happening. (from TechCrunch).

Eh, friends, the minute I saw this announcement earlier today on media sites, Meta, Instagram, and Adam Mosseri's reel... my mind was just like,

"Whatever!!!"

Hahaa! 😝😂 Sorry, not sorry.

Like, why?

Well, numerous reasons, no doubt.

1. Continue to attract younger demographics.
2. Compete with Snapchat.
3. Get users to share more raw, unedited content.
4. Cater to the decline in users sharing as much to their profile/grid.
5. Fuel the addiction to keep coming back to the app.
6. Increase time on site/app.
7. Keeping eyeballs glued to the screen = sell more ads.

Anything else you'd add?

And if you're already loving Instants, please enlighten us as to why. Lol. 😆

P.S. Post manually written by me, fingers on the keyboard. 👉🏻⌨️