Social Media Strategy Crucial for Transit Agencies After Storm

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AppId is over the quota
“I have asked nicely several times about what’s going on with the 317 bus,” the rider, who identified herself as Mary Scandell, fumed on the Facebook page of New Jersey Transit a few days after Hurricane Sandy. “Now I’m gonna ask in a nasty way.”

Change the scene to New York. A commuter named Jim Temple posted a question on the Long Island Rail Road’s Facebook page, asking for a status update of the damaged Long Beach line. The railroad promptly replied. “Thank you for the info,” Mr. Temple answered.

If there is one lesson transit officials have learned from Hurricane Sandy, it is that in the Internet era, keeping riders up to date is just as important as tracks and rolling stock. Blow it, and they will let you know. As workers raced to bring washed-out tracks, flooded tunnels and swamped electrical equipment back online, they also faced the daunting task of keeping millions of riders informed of conditions and schedules that sometimes shifted by the minute, using tools that included Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

A look at how New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road communicated, as viewed through the prism of Facebook, showed how approaches to messaging could make the difference between shaping expectations or fueling the ire of customers forced to find new ways to get to work and home.

The Long Island Rail Road continually updated its Facebook page with photographs and videos of storm preparations before Hurricane Sandy hit. The dispatches continued as high winds and surge waters ripped down power lines and clogged rail lines with wayward boats and other debris. The agency frequently answered passengers’ questions and posted other helpful updates, like where to seek federal assistance for damaged homes.

New Jersey Transit also regularly updated its page — but did not start posting photographs until after noon on Oct. 30, after the storm had barreled through. It answered riders’ questions sporadically, sometimes referring them to incorrect information on its Web site, even as commuters grew more confused trying to figure out shifting schedules.

The result: the Long Island Rail Road conveyed a narrative of shared pain, of workers fighting back against unprecedented damage that was beyond their control. Passengers frequently and vociferously critical of the railroad suddenly sympathized and even praised communication efforts that, if not perfect, were viewed as improved.

New Jersey Transit’s communications, on the other hand, became for many commuters yet another source of misery.

“Long Island Rail Road learned the lesson of telling their riders what’s going on,” said Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation at the New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. “And it turns out that is as important as the level of service you are providing.”

The Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit also used Twitter extensively. But The New York Times examined the Facebook pages of each agency because they allow for more detailed comments — providing a deeper look at how passengers were viewing communications — and more of a back-and-forth discussion. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which was also criticized for its communications, used Twitter but does not have a Facebook page.

New Jersey Transit has come under scrutiny after the storm damaged more than 300 train cars and locomotives parked in rail yards in Hoboken and the Meadowlands that prestorm warnings indicated would flood.

But even before that decision became widely known, passenger tensions were spiking.

New Jersey Transit officials defended their communications throughout and after the storm.

“We were tweeting information practically 24 hours a day,” said John Durso Jr., the agency’s spokesman. He said the agency also continually updated its Web site; sent out e-mail alerts; placed advertisements in newspapers on emergency shuttle, bus and ferry service; and made frequent appearances on television and radio broadcasts.

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Spotify for Mac, Windows, and Linux gets a crucial update

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AppId is over the quota

Previously it was a bit difficult (and by difficult we mean it took an extra few seconds of clicks) to create a Spotify playlist and share those songs with friends. But with this recent update it should be easier than ever to share and create playlists with your favorite artists.

Instant Search: When you type something into the Spotify search bar, results for Playlists, Artists, and Tracks appear altogether, across all cateogories, instead of just the search specifics.

Embed Codes: By just right-clicking a track, you can get the embed code for that song and post it on your website or blog, taking sharing music to a whole new level. In addition, Spotify has partnered with Tumblr, so you will also be seeing a “Share to Tumblr” button within the app.

Create Radio Stations from Albums: Similar to Pandora and last.fm, the Playlist and Album Radio feature allows you to seek new music that’s similar to what you’re already listening to—opening doors for new music (and who isn’t always looking for some great new tunes?).

If you haven’t noticed the update yet, just close and reopen Spotify; the update should automatically sync once it reboots.

(via Cult of Mac; photo via Pocket Lint)

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