Post Tagged with: "Facebook"

Why I love @DDOTDC… and what other transportation agencies/organizations can learn from them

January 25, 2013 at 4:29 pm
English: District of Columbia Department of Tr...

English: District of Columbia Department of Transportation (d-dot) logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m a big fan of transportation agencies using social media to reach their customers & stakeholders.  But often you will find many of these agencies send out tweets and Facebook posts that are plain boring and borderline irritating.  Fortunately, some agencies do understand the importance of adding humor and fun to keep their messages appealing yet entertaining without looking too mundane.  Among a handful of agencies that do this so well is @DDOTDC (aka DC Department of Transportation). They always know how to mix up the seriousness of a bland transportation message with a little bit of humor to make it easy for the end-user to consume, esp. at the end of a long day.  The communications team at @DDOTDC has done a commendable job on many occasions and today is not an exception.

Like every time it happens, today DC metropolitan area got into panic-mode when snow flurries started hitting the ground. As folks left offices/workplaces early, the vehicle traffic started building up on the streets. So, to lighten up the mood and poke a bit of fun of the traditional behavior of DC metro residents, the @DDOTDC team pushed out a series of fun tweets titled Top 5 signs it’s snowing in DC”:

And you see my point? How refreshing is it to see a public agency do something like this instead of just sending out plain boring traffic congestion updates during an already crazy time on the streets?  If you happen to serve as a communications in-charge at any transportation agency, you will be thrilled to see such great levels of audience engagement from the community for each one of these messages (i.e., retweets, Favs, etc). So, if you get a chance, say “Thank You” to the @DDOTDC team for their fun yet sincere community service and all the hard work they put in to keeps us safe on the roads.

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Not Getting Enough Facebook and Twitter In a Day? How About An Ultimate Social Car? Ford & Facebook Are Getting It Done

February 29, 2012 at 7:44 pm

(Source: Ford via Autoblog)

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeUF5-PiRQY’]

Though I’m a bit alarmed by the cognitive distraction (for drivers) potential associated with this technology, it is awesome to see the collaboration between the vehicle manufacturers and the app developers to put together an “intelligent” vehicle.   For sure, Secretary LaHood and his staff at USDOT will be spending a lot of time thinking about how to accommodate these tech advancements in the vehicle environment while prioritizing the safety of drivers on the road. If you have not already seen this, the USDOT has recently proposed the first-ever federal guidelines to encourage automobile manufacturers to limit the distraction risk for these in-vehicle electronic devices.  The proposed guidelines are voluntary and would apply to communications, entertainment, information gathering, and navigation devices or functions that are built into the vehicle and are not required to safely operate the vehicles.  In any case, it is safe to say that the vehicles of today will look a LOT dumber compared to these SMART cars that will roll out of the assembly lines in Detroit a few years from now.

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Dominating of the Skies, Tweet by Tweet – Airlines and Twitter: An infographic

July 8, 2011 at 12:32 pm

(Source: via  Gadling.com)

Some interesting observations:

  • According to authors , Southwest drops to second place this month as industry giant Delta (21,000) mentions, leaps into first place. It’s interesting to note that this data is based on tweets and opinions in a category of interest, not number of followers.
  •  @SouthwestAir still wins that battle, with 1,142,579 followers vs. 206,201 for the main @Delta Twitter.

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Citizen empowerment gets a boost – SeeClickFix Launches Facebook Application…

April 6, 2011 at 5:26 pm

(Source:  Thecityfix.com)

Image via SeeClickFix.

SeeClickFix, an online forum created to engage residents with community leaders to resolve neighborhood complaints, today announced the launch of a Facebook application. The Facebook application, similar to the SeeClickFix website and smartphone application, empowers citizens by giving them a chance to report issues in their communities directly through their Facebook accounts. Once reported, local authorities receive alerts on the complaints and can respond to issues accordingly.

“When the App is installed, the user’s location is pulled either directly from his or her current Facebook profile location or entered manually if no location is given,” reports the SeeClickFix blog. “Once the location is set, the user can start reporting issues, creating watch areas, discovering problems reported by neighbors, and, most important, advocating for an issue to be fixed. Users can automatically post reported issues to their walls, allowing friends to comment on the issue or vote for a fix.”

SeeClickFix has 14,000 registered public officials and more than 50,000 reported issues have been resolved through the website and its mobile application’s open forums. A Facebook application further encourages public empowerment by linking citizens with public officials through a familiar interface.

Click here to read more.

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Wanna be famous? Get a DUI in Evsham TWP, NJ; Cops will post your DUI mugshots on Facebook

August 17, 2010 at 3:48 pm

(Source: Allfacebook.com)

There are so many reasons not to drink and drive, but if residents of Evsham Township needed one more, their police department has given it to them: now, drunk drivers get featured on the Evsham Township Police Facebook page, complete with name, listed offence, and mug shot. While this might be an effective way to deter criminals, there are some that question whether it is ethical to post these details on a Facebook page that can be viewed by millions of users.

police-department

Image courtesy: Allfacebook.com

Drunk drivers are not the only criminals to find themselves in the red hot spotlight of the Evsham Township Police Facebook page: a car thief, a store robber, a gang found fighting in the street and a movie theater burglar are among those with their mug shots splashed across the page. But the drunk drivers are the sticking point for a lot of legal and ethical debates. Is it right to post pictures of people who have been charged but not yet convicted?

Click here to read the entire story.

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Social(media) Policing! Facebook Used by Delhi Police to Catch Lawless Drivers

August 2, 2010 at 2:33 pm

Nice work Delhi Police.. Glad to see citizens actively participating in keeping their city safe. Its is amazing to see how social media has transformed our communities and the way we live (and even police ourselves).

Amplify’d from mashable.com
he tr

The traffic police of Delhi, India, are using citizen submissions on a Facebook page to catch and ticket misbehaving drivers.

The New York Times says officials have issued 665 tickets based on photographs of license plates posted to the Delhi Traffic Police Facebook page, which has almost 18,000 fans.

The police didn’t initially solicit these photos, but citizens took the initiative to help the authorities because Delhi, a sprawling metropolis that’s home to more than 12 million people, has only 5,000 traffic cops.

This method will only become more useful. The 2010 Commonwealth Games will take place in Delhi in early October, bringing a huge influx of travelers to the roads. Now the info panel at the Facebook (Facebook) page says: “Managing traffic in Delhi during the Commonwealth Games will be a big challange as well as a great opportunity. Delhi Traffic Police cannot possibly succeed without the active cooperation, participation and support of all the citizens.”

Read more at mashable.com
 
See this Amp at http://bit.ly/cTlGFk

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Match Made in Ether! Zipcar Plans Partnership With Zimride

April 8, 2009 at 12:51 pm

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

Zimride

Zipcar Inc., the world’s largest car-sharing company, plans to announce Wednesday a partnership with Zimride, a fast-growing online carpooling service that uses social networking tools like Facebook Inc. to match potential riders and drivers on university campuses or at companies like Wal-Mart.

The partnership — being launched first at Stanford University — means carpoolers can share rides, even if they don’t own a car, using Zipcar’s hourly rental system. Car-sharing companies allow drivers to rent cars by the hour from locations close to their homes. 

When reserving a car on Zipcar, members will be able to automatically post the date, time and destination of their rental onto the Zimride Stanford University Web site. Then Zimride finds and notifies users looking for a ride. Zimride’s users also will be prompted to consider booking a Zipcar for their trip.

Online carpooling service Zimride uses social-networking tools to match riders and drivers on university campuses or at companies.

Zipcar hopes to quickly launch the program at other universities across the country. “The intent here is to go big fast,” says Scott Griffith, chairman and chief executive of Zipcar. “I would guess in the next couple of months, you will see dozens of these things rolling out.”

Zipcar declined to provide financial details on the partnership.

In recent years, online carpooling services such as Goloco.org and Pickuppal.com, which use social networking to link drivers and riders, have sprung up, but significant user growth has proved elusive.

 

In 2007, Zimride launched as the first online carpooling service to integrate a Facebook application — free software programs that Facebook members can use — to arrange ride-sharing within specific communities like universities or companies. Zimride could then use the social-networking site to show potential riders and drivers the people who might be riding with them.

 

Click here to read the entire article.
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