Follow Jennifer Howze, editor of Timesonline's Alpha Mummy, on Twitter

It used to be blogs. Now families going on holiday or parents who like to travel are also using Twitter to update family, friends and the world at large about their trips.

The feeds include tips, interesting asides, links to blog posts, and pictures. Done well, they are handy advisors, interesting to read on the road and at home. Done poorly, they are as enjoyable as a Ryanair layover.

Who does it well, who does it badly? We've scoured the site for informative family tweeters.

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Related Links

• The Twitter Report: UK tourist boards

• Which travel firms do Twitter well (and badly)?

HELPFUL AND INFORMATIVE

twitter.com/travelingmoms

TravellingMom.com bloggers put up links to a great website with varied, interesting content, from advice on travelling to Mexico during swine flu season to money-saving tips and announcements about chats with travel experts.

twitter.com/TravelSavvyMom

TravelSavvyMom blogs about the funny side of family travel and her Twitter feed is full of personal responses to followers as well as occasional tips. Her blog is well organised, easy to navigate and chock full of tips.

twitter.com/playandstay

A landslide of links pointing to the play-and-stay.co.uk site, which features family-focused holidays and days out. Besides direct responses to twitter questions, it includes links to easy-to-read tips, iPhone applications and ahead-of-the-curve news such as a planning application for a new Alton Towers roller coaster. Best recent tweet: about Thorpe Park's new 'vomit collector' job.

twitter.com/hvbabywilltrvl
This Twitter feed, linked to the Have Baby Will Travel site, focuses exclusively on travel with babies and toddlers, skewed toward destinations popular with Americans. Down to earth, with a wise-cracking tone, it includes links to genuinely helpful articles on the site, hotel deals, loads of giveaways, and conversations via RTs and D messages. Trip reports on the site are written by readers and go beyond "the sea was lovely" to telling you where in the hotel to stay to avoid noise and push-chairs accessibility.

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