Not sure what the editorial in question said – if Ken Hardie’s response was to something discussed/explained many times by TransLink, that tweet wasn’t so out of line. We used to get the same question at Canada Post over and over and over again, the classic, ‘why is it Britain can deliver mail twice a day AND on Saturdays AND do it within 24 hours?’ (answer: small geographic area; dense urban population – NOT the same situation as Canada, hello). And it’s frustrating when you answer the question and people don’t listen, but continue to compare apples and oranges.

A vital agency like translink should absolutely have as much communication going as possible. Transparency is going to be the hallmark of effective government in the years to come. No one is going to be satisfied with press releases any more in this day in age. In fact, tweets like Ken Hardie’s might even be beneficial under the right circumstances. Seeing organizations take abuse in the press makes you wonder if there are even human beings behind those desks.

I can see both sides of the issue of translink using social media, like twitter, to update people on the status of things in Vancouver. They did just recently start the blog and are probably trying to focus on giving that a really strong launch. Plus, the benefits of providing info via twitter are limited since twitter no longer broadcasts to Canadian cell phones. So, the people who are probably most in need of info wouldn’t be getting it anyway.

However, I’m sure that there are some ways that they could work around that to make more effective use of twitter instead of just feeding the blog posts to it. One example is that they could set up twitter ‘office hours.’ I know of one company that does it. So, you don’t have to worry about a never-ending flood of tweets. You announce your office hours and deal with as many of the incoming questions, problem reports, etc. as you can in the time that you’ve set up. That way, you have an instant limit to the amount of time, effort, and man-power that you need to handle it. It wouldn’t lend itself well to updating the general public for things like delays and such, but for consistent problems and questions, it would set up a venue to get a discussion going.

I think the fact that there’s only one person (maybe 2, if we count The Buzzer and Ken) is symptomatic of TransLink *seeming* to decide that social media is a one-off thing, not a systemic change in the way they carry out the business of interacting with the public – and, consequently, the way they interact internally as an organization.

This is undoubtedly scary to the organizational inertia. WRT Tris’ comment specifically, I would direct TransLink or anyone interested in models of his suggestion, to take a look at the @TTCU account – the TTC’s twitter updates. Members of the community have hacked together @TTCU_community – essentially tracking and re-tweeting the #ttcu hashtag, for rider-generated alerts. (The Torontoist covered this.)

Perhaps the proof is in the pudding – how did riders using this service feel about the closure at Osgoode station today due to a shooting on the subway platform?

When it comes down to it, I think it’s the tension of command and control vs. free and open. If TransLink is always the one in control, customers will not be empowered with the information to make the transit/transportation decisions that can cause them the least discomfort or inconvenience; and if the organizational structure of TransLink demands to hold onto that control, or fails to *share* it in a meaningful manner with their riders, their riders will go where they do have control: bikes, walking, ridesharing, and cars, instead of transit.

Does TransLink care about this mode shift? Seeing the scope of their mandate, they may very well not.

I’ve gotta disagree with you on this one Raul. I think translink realizing where their limitations are and only doing social media in ways they feel confident and competent at is a very smart thing.

Are there more things they could be doing? Of course. There are always more things. But which of those will benefit the *majority* of transit users in the Lower Mainland?

While social media is certainly growing, those who use it well and regularly are still a very small percentage of the population. When I think of what translink should do to improve services and better connect with, and how their efforts could better benefit not only me, but my entire circle of family and friends (who span a wide range of technical/non-technical and social media savvy & enthusiastic or not-so, improving their use of twitter is pretty damn low on the list.

The nature of Web 2.0 and beauty of it is to have a bi-directional conversation, so I will respond very briefly.

Ruth – Agreed. All I wanted to say is “be careful what you tweet”. I for one know that having unprotected tweets makes ME vulnerable to criticism, so I’m just as guilty. All I am saying is that it’s important to make sure that the use of Twitter is solid and well-understood.

James – Agreed. Ken really showed being a human behind the government agency. That’s great too.

Jennifer – Good point on the Twitter broadcasts to phones. I just like that they are embracing social media. Just kind of puzzled as to the staffing issue.

Karen – Thanks for your insights. I’m also interested in seeing if they do comparisons amongst transit autorities.

Jen – It’s great to agree to disagree, and I’m glad you disagree with me on this one. I agree that it’s good that they should focus resources on better transportation, and that socmed benefits only a smaller percentage of the population. But I think we could (in the future) have both (great transportation systems AND awesome socmed outreach tools on the part of Translink)

Thanks everyone for chiming in – keep it coming!

I totally understand some of their reluctance, but even just a bot that re-tweeted tips would be helpful. If folks take it for what it’s worth. Clearly you can’t take a transit tip from the field as the gospel truth, but it could help in a pinch

I’m actually fairly impressed that TransLink has a dedicated person (maybe two) engaged in social media. Very often it’s something companies tack on to another person’s job description.

I am surprised at the Buzzer tweet. I wonder if it’s just a misunderstanding about the time Twitter takes away vs. the value added. With something like Twhirl running in the background, they can respond to replies and DMs while working on other things. I don’t think anyone expects them to be sitting on Twitter all day talking about nothing in particular. And if the workload became too much, yet the value was there, shouldn’t that be enough to justify adding another resource?

If your transportation system is anything like ours here in Sydney (Australia) then GOOD LUCK!

They do not do anything like Twitter, SMS alerts to notify of delays etc… Just overcharge you for an inadiquate service!

Oppsss… Tanya (NetChick) sent me…

@ Tris and @ Bree – After seeing Joe Solomon’s talk at Net Tuesday (see my liveblog) I can seriously see how you could just create a mashup and tweet stuff (see Bree’s suggestion on Twitter of #hashtags).

@ Bernie – I know that Vancouver’s transportation system lacks in comparison to my dear Mexico City

I am not going to defend SoCoBriTCA – but given their governance structure now I can quite understand their reluctance to be drawn into areas which might prove sensitive to either the Province (or Kevin Falcon) or one the Mayors (who will say “We are not in charge any more” until it comes to money. Twitter and blogs are much more open than a letter to an individual with a complaint – and tweets are only 140 characters.

On the other hand I give them points for trying and am allowing them the tolerance I extend to N00bies – even if the rest of the web20sphere seems less willing. Do any other utilities (Terasen, Hydro) tweet or have interactive blogs? I don’t know of any other transportation agency in BC that does.