The latest trend that is on fire these days is to post complaints on Twitter. It is any day an easier and more effective way of voicing your frustration. And you do it with photographs and videos. With people literally spending half of their lives on twitter and facebook, there is no way your concern will go unnoticed. It doesn’t get better than this.

One tourist’s grievance is often shared by a hundred other people who have faced the same problem in the past. It’s a universal truth that humans find camaraderie in misery and in…bitching against someone.

And don’t think it’s just harmless banter by some social media addicts. Travel agencies, hotels, airlines are sitting up to notice what people have to say about their services. They care about any online mud-flinging that might tarnish their image. So much so that companies hire teams to address these online complaints and concerns.

JetBlue Airways has set up a team of about 30 people to follow customers’ complaints on their social  networking pages and to respond to them. No hotel takes a bad review on TripAdvisor lightly.

“If there’s a direct question, we try to respond within 15 minutes, and more often, it’s under five minutes,” says Morgan Johnston, JetBlue’s corporate communications manager and social media strategist.

The travel industry is getting more transparent and accountable to the consumer. A lot of power lies in his hands now. So, you need not worry about being given a raw deal.