Study: Transit Agencies Should Respond to the Haters

Here's a counter-intuitive proposition for transit agencies: feed the Twitter trolls.

1 minute read

January 20, 2016, 1:00 PM PST

Conventional wisdom says not to feed the trolls—the antagonistic group of naysayers and critics with nothing nice to say on the Internet—but a recent study by University of Southern California professor Lisa Schweitzer finds evidence that transit agencies might be better served by responding to online commentary.

Andrew Keatts reports on the study, summing up its findings: "transit agencies might not want to just bury their heads in the sand. Agencies that engage directly with Twitter users, rather than simply blasting out service announcements, end up seeing significantly more positive discussions about them on the social media service…"

Keatts details the findings of the study, which includes an analysis of 64,000 tweets about public transit agencies—most of them bad. The key takeaway for transit agencies, however, is that they aren't helpless in the face of this criticism.

FULL STORY: Why Transit Agencies Should Feed Twitter Trolls

Tuesday, January 19, 2016 in The Urban Edge

Technology Transportation United States Transit Agencies Social Media Twitter online engagement Community Engagement Trolls View More

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Start Learning

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.