complete report2

Social Media ReportJune 4, 2013

Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organizationfor the Gainesville Urbanized Area

Social Media Report

Prepared for the

Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization for the Gainesville Urbanized Area

2009 NW 67th PlaceGainesville, FL 32653-1603352.955.2200

With Assistance from:North Central Florida Regional Planning Council2009 NW 67th PlaceGainesville, FL 32653352.955.2200www.ncfrpc.org

June 4, 2013

Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization for the Gainesville Urbanized Area Social Media Report

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Table of Contents

Chapter I: Introduction............................................................................................................3A. Purpose.........................................................................................................................3B. Definitions.....................................................................................................................3

Chapter II: Existing Conditions................................................................................................7A. Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations.................................................................7B. City of Gainesville.......................................................................................................10C. Alachua County...........................................................................................................10

Chapter III: Identification of Options......................................................................................13A. Create a Facebook Page.............................................................................................13B. Create a Twitter Account............................................................................................13C. Other Options.............................................................................................................13

Chapter IV: Evaluation of Options.........................................................................................17A. Create a Facebook Page.............................................................................................17B. Create a Twitter Account............................................................................................17C. Other Options.............................................................................................................18

Chapter V: Conclusions and Recommendations....................................................................21

Appendix A: Existing Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations’ Facebook Pages.............25A. Hernando County Metropolitan Planning Organization................................................25B. Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization.......................................................27C. Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization.......................................................29D. MetroPlan Orlando......................................................................................................31E. Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization........................................................33F. North Florida Transportation Planning Organization...................................................35G. Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization.......................................37

Appendix B: Existing Metropolitan Planning Organization Twitter Pages...............................43A. Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization.......................................................43B. Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization.......................................................44C. MetroPlan Orlando......................................................................................................45D. North Florida Transportation Planning Organization...................................................46

Appendix C: Existing City of Gainesville Social Media...........................................................49A. City of Gainesville’s Facebook Page............................................................................49B. Gainesville City Commissioner’s Facebook Page.........................................................50C. City of Gainesville’s Twitter Page................................................................................51D. Gainesville City Commissioner’s Twitter Page.............................................................52E. City of Gainesville’s Flickr Page..................................................................................53F. City of Gainesville’s YouTube Channel........................................................................54

Appendix D: Existing Alachua County Social Media..............................................................57A. Alachua County’s Facebook Page...............................................................................57B. Alachua County’s Twitter Page...................................................................................58C. Alachua County’s YouTube Channel............................................................................59

Table of Contents Page i


Appendix E: Proposed Facebook Page...................................................................................63

TablesTable 1 Social Media Use: Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations, 2013.......................8Table 2 Facebook Page Content: Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations, 2013............9Table 3 Twitter Account Content: Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations, 2013...........9

FiguresFigure 1: Hernando County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page................25Figure 2: Hernando County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page................26Figure 3: Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page........................27Figure 4: Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page........................28Figure 5: Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page.......................29Figure 6: Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page.......................30Figure 7: MetroPlan Orlando’s Facebook Page......................................................................31Figure 8: MetroPlan Orlando’s Facebook Page......................................................................32Figure 9: Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page........................33Figure 10: Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page......................34Figure 11: North Florida Transportation Planning Organization’s Facebook Page..................35Figure 12: North Florida Transportation Planning Organization’s Facebook Page..................36Figure 13: Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization’s Facebook Page.....37Figure 14: Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization’s Facebook Page.....38Figure 15: Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page.................39Figure 16: Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page.................40Figure 16: Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Twitter Page..........................43Figure 17: Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Twitter Page.........................44Figure 18: MetroPlan Orlando’s Twitter Page........................................................................45Figure 19: North Florida Transportation Planning Organization’s Twitter Page......................46Figure 20: City of Gainesville’s Facebook Page.....................................................................49Figure 21: Commissioner Todd Chase’s Facebook Page........................................................50Figure 22: City of Gainesville’s Twitter Page.........................................................................51Figure 23: City Commissioner Lauren Poe’s Twitter Page......................................................52Figure 24: City of Gainesville’s Flickr Page............................................................................53Figure 25: City of Gainesville’s YouTube Channel..................................................................54Figure 26: Alachua County’s Facebook Page.........................................................................57Figure 27: Alachua County’s Twitter Page.............................................................................58Figure 28: Alachua County’s YouTube Channel.....................................................................59Figure 29: Proposed Facebook Page......................................................................................63

Table of Contents Page ii


Chapter IIntroduction

Chapter I - Introduction Page 1


Chapter I: IntroductionSocial media has emerged over the past decade as a fresh and interactive way for organizations to communicate with the public. This document serves as a report on alternative options for use of social media by the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization for the Gainesville Urbanized Area.

A. PurposeThe purpose of this report is to explore and determine the best option for social media use by the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization for the Gainesville Urbanized Area in order to enhance public involvement and outreach. Social media is defined by Merriam-Webster.com as “forms of electronic communication (such as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages and other content (as videos).” Examples of social media include Facebook, Flickr, MindMixer, Twitter and YouTube.

B. Definitions

Facebook - a social networking service. In addition to “friending” and interacting with fellow users, Facebook users can visit and view posts from companies and organizations’ Facebook pages and “like” pages to view their posts in the users’ News Feeds.

Flickr - an image and video hosting service that allows users to share photographs and videos.

Microblogging - a form of internet blogging (derived from web log) through brief messages with “severe space or size constraints” (m-w.com).

MindMixer - a social media platform which creates a “virtual town hall” community forum for discussing issues and sharing ideas as part of civic engagement.

News Feed - a column and part of Facebook users’ accounts consisting of updates from friends and pages which they follow.

Twitter - a social networking and microblogging service. Twitter users are able to send and read messages known as “tweets” from fellow users, view other users’ tweets and “follow” specific users’ messages. YouTube - a video-sharing service. YouTube hosts video content uploaded by individual users and available to view over the internet.



Chapter IIExisting Conditions

Chapter 2 - Existing Conditions Page 5


Chapter II: Existing ConditionsThis chapter summarizes the current use of social media by Florida metropolitan planning organizations, the City of Gainesville and Alachua County.

A. Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations

Table 1 lists the current use of social media by Florida metropolitan planning organizations. Of Florida’s 26 metropolitan planning organizations, eight have Facebook pages, four have Twitter accounts and eight operate mailing lists. The Facebook pages had between 14 and 372 likes while the Twitter accounts had between 16 and 3,289 followers. In addition, three MPOs have YouTube channels used to post informational videos, news videos, event and meeting recordings and public service announcements. The Pinellas County MPO also has a MindMixer-based “virtual town hall” forum used to gather ideas from the public for the Pinellas Transportation Plan.

Table 2 lists the types of content found on the eight Florida metropolitan planning organizations’ Facebook pages. All eight metropolitan planning organizations used their pages for meeting and event announcements. The next most common uses were to share pictures from metropolitan planning organization events, announce programs and surveys and share relevant news, articles and links. A smaller number of organizations also used their pages to share safety tips and documents such as reports, meetings agendas and minutes.

Table 3 lists the types of content shared on the Florida metropolitan planning organizations’ Twitter accounts. All four agencies shared upcoming metropolitan planning organization related events and meetings and links to relevant news or articles. Other uses included sharing reports, pictures, relevant links, meeting agendas or minutes, relevant retweets, videos and programs, surveys or updates.



Table 1Social Media Use:

Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations, 2013 (as of May 16, 2013)

Metropolitan Planning Organization Facebook Twitter

ElectronicMailing List Other

Bay County TPO

Broward MPO YouTube

Capital Region TPOCharlotte County-Punta Gorda MPO

Collier County MPO

Florida-Alabama TPO

Gainesville MTPO

Hernando County MPO 16 likes

Hillsborough MPO 315 likes

3,289 followers

Indian River County MPO

Lake-Sumter MPO 36 likes 103 followers YouTube

Lee County MPO

Martin MPO

MetroPlan Orlando 372 likes

813 followers

Miami-Dade MPO 63 likes

North Florida TPO 14 likes 16 followers

Ocala/Marion County TPO 18 likes

Okaloosa-Walton TPO

Palm Beach MPO

Pasco County MPO

Pinellas County MPO 173 likes Mindmixer

Polk TPO

Sarasota/Manatee MPO

Space Coast TPO

St. Lucie TPO

Volusia TPO YouTube

Chapter 2 - Existing Conditions Page 8Page 8


Table 2Facebook Page Content:

Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations, 2013 (as of May 16, 2013)

Metropolitan Planning

Organization

Agendasor

Minutes

Events or

Meetings Links

News or

Articles

Pictures

Programsor

Surveys Reports Safety TipsHernando County MPO

Hillsborough MPO

Lake-Sumter MPO

MetroPlan Orlando

Miami-Dade MPO

North Florida TPO

Ocala/Marion County TPO

Pinellas County MPO

Table 3Twitter Account Content:

Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations, 2013(as of May 16, 2013)

Metropolitan Planning

Organization

Agendasor

Minutes

Events or

Meetings Links

News or

Articles

Pictures

Programs, Surveys

or Updates Reports

Retweets

Videos

Hillsborough MPO

Lake-Sumter MPO

MetroPlan Orlando

North Florida TPO

Chapter 2 - Existing Conditions Page 9 Page 9


B. City of GainesvilleThe City of Gainesville currently operates a Facebook page with 33,103 “likes, as well as individual pages for thirteen parts of city government, such as Gainesville Regional Utilities, Nature Operations and Regional Transit System (RTS).

The City also operates a Twitter account with 970 followers, a Flickr account and a YouTube channel with 76 uploaded videos.

Gainesville’s Mayor and all six City Commissioners also have individual Facebook pages linked from the City of Gainesville Facebook page. The Mayor and five of the City Commissioner also have Twitter accounts (though only four of the Commissioners’ accounts are currently active).

C. Alachua CountyAlachua County maintains a Facebook page with 14,889 likes and a Twitter account with 1,546 followers. Although most of the County Commissioners have personal Facebook accounts, and several have made campaign pages, none has an official elected official account as the City Commissioners do.

Alachua County also maintains a YouTube channel with 317 uploaded videos.



Chapter IIIIdentification of Options

Chapter 3 - Identification of Options Page 11


Chapter III: Identification of Options

A. Create a Facebook PageThis option consists of creating and maintaining an organization Facebook page with regular new content.

B. Create a Twitter Account

This option consists of creating and maintaining a Twitter account with regular messages.

C. Other OptionsOther options include creating and maintaining a photo-sharing account through a service such as Flickr or a YouTube channel for sharing videos. In addition, a service such as MindMixer could also be used to facilitate public participation in particular current local transportation issues or proposals.



Chapter IVEvaluation of Options

Chapter 4 - Evaluation of OptionsPage 15


Chapter IV: Evaluation of Options

A. Create a Facebook PageThis option would provide the potential to connect with a large number of potential “fans” (those who “like” the page) and visitors. The page would allow the organization to regularly engage and communicate with citizens and professionals, developing interest in local transportation issues and awareness of the organization’s work. In addition, the page would track user demographic information, such as age, gender and location.

Creating a Facebook page would be free of charge but require regular posts and new carefully selected content. Content should be modeled on the successful organization Facebook pages such as reviewed in Chapter II. It would feature interesting and engaging posts such as pictures, news, articles, links, events, meetings and organization updates. New content could also be created for the page, such as photographs, graphics and videos. Successful Facebook pages appear to function not only as an organization website, but also as an online communities, microblogs, and news resources.

The number of visitors to the Facebook page may be limited though not insignificant. The eight Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Facebook pages have an average of 126 likes with a range between 14 and 372 likes. Smaller jurisdictions with populations closer to that of the Gainesville Urbanized Area, such as the Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization and the Hernando County Metropolitan Planning Organization, have only 18 and 16 likes respectively. These are the only users which can automatically see the page’s posts without needing to specifically visit the page, though they may not actually see the post depending on their level and times of Facebook use. On the other hand, Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization and MetroPlan Orlando have 315 and 372 likes respectively, as well as many users who have commented on and liked individual posts.

B. Create a Twitter Account

This option would serve a similar purpose as the Facebook Page by allowing the organization to communicate and engage with citizens and professionals. Because of its short text-based form, Twitter has a greater focus on providing news and information to the public and thus would reach a different group or aspect of the public. Twitter users and organization accounts are also able to respond and interact with other users in a public conversational manner. Like the Facebook page, a successful Twitter account would require maintenance through carefully selected and written messages, as well as interaction with other Twitter users through responses and retweets.

The number of people who would be reached by a Twitter account may also be limited. The four Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations with Twitter accounts (Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization, Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization, MetroPlan Orlando and North Florida Transportation Planning Organzation) have 3,289, 103, 813 and 16 followers respectively. Of the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization’s followers, only four were individual users while the remainders were organizations. Hillsborough MPO and MetroPlan Orlando have significantly larger numbers of followers, probably a result of their regions’ larger populations and perhaps higher interest in transportation issues. Similar to Facebook likes, Twitter followers might not see the user’s



tweets and also some may be organizations rather than individuals, as with the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization’s case.

C. Other OptionsOther social media platforms could provide more specific ways to communicate with the public. An image-sharing service such as Flickr would have limited use because of the overall lack of opportunities for organization-related photographs. Furthermore, photographs can also be uploaded to both the Facebook Page and Twitter account.

A YouTube Channel would provide another medium which could potentially bring more people to view the videos of the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization for the Gainesville Urbanized Area meetings, which are currently already available on Alachua County’s website. However, given the specialized nature of these meetings, any increase in viewers may be limited.

MindMixer, the “virtual town hall” service, presents a viable option for receiving public input on specific or general local transportation issues. However, unlike the other services reviewed, Mindmixer requires a annual subscriptions costing between $1,000-9,999.



Chapter VConclusions and Recommendations

Chapter 5 - Conclusions and RecommendationsPage 19


Chapter V: Conclusions and RecommendationsThis report’s first recommendation for social media use is the creation of a Facebook page (see Appendix E). Facebook is currently the most popular social media platform and has the widest variety of uses. Facebook pages can share videos, events, images and text-based messages. Thus, a Facebook page would reach the widest audience and firmly establish a strong social media presence.

Other forms of social media, specifically Twitter and YouTube, may be implemented in later parts of the social media plan. Image-sharing services, such as Flickr, or community forum services like MindMixer have either limited use or expensive subscription prices (between $1,000-9,999 a year). However, because of the particular utility and relevant of MindMixer for public involvement, it should be considered for implementation at some point in the future.

In addition, it is recommended that the current website continue to be updated on a regular basis because it is the primarily source for information and “hub” for the organization. The Facebook page and other future social media would be linked from and to the website. Both would support each other by directing the public towards each.

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Appendix A Existing Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Facebook Pages

Appendix A Existing Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Facebook Pages Page 23


Appendix A: Existing Florida Metropolitan Planning Organizations’ Facebook Pages

A. Hernando County Metropolitan Planning Organization

Figure 1: Hernando County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page

(Retrieved May 16, 2013)



Figure 2: Hernando County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




B. Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization

Figure 3: Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




Figure 4: Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




C. Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization

Figure 5: Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




Figure 6: Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




D. MetroPlan Orlando

Figure 7: MetroPlan Orlando’s Facebook Page(Retrieved May 16, 2013)



Figure 8: MetroPlan Orlando’s Facebook Page(Retrieved May 16, 2013)



E. Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization

Figure 9: Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page(Retrieved May 16, 2013)



Figure 10: Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




F. North Florida Transportation Planning Organization

Figure 11: North Florida Transportation Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




Figure 12: North Florida Transportation Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




G. Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization

Figure 13: Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




Figure 14: Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




H. Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization

Figure 15: Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




Figure 16: Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Facebook Page




Appendix B Existing Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Twitter Accounts

Appendix B - Existing Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Twitter Accounts Page 49


Appendix B: Existing Metropolitan Planning Organization Twitter Pages

A. Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization

Figure 16: Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Twitter Page(Retrieved May 16, 2013)



B. Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization

Figure 17: Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Twitter Page(Retrieved May 16, 2013)



C. MetroPlan Orlando

Figure 18: MetroPlan Orlando’s Twitter Page(Retrieved May 16, 2013)



D. North Florida Transportation Planning Organization

Figure 19: North Florida Transportation Planning Organization’s Twitter Page




Appendix C Existing City of Gainesville Social Media

Appendix C - Existing City of Gainesville Social Media Page 56


Appendix C: Existing City of Gainesville Social Media

A. City of Gainesville’s Facebook Page

Figure 20: City of Gainesville’s Facebook Page(Retrieved May 17, 2013)



B. Gainesville City Commissioner’s Facebook Page

Figure 21: Commissioner Todd Chase’s Facebook Page(Retrieved May 17, 2013)



C. City of Gainesville’s Twitter Page

Figure 22: City of Gainesville’s Twitter Page(Retrieved May 17, 2013)



D. Gainesville City Commissioner’s Twitter Page

Figure 23: City Commissioner Lauren Poe’s Twitter Page(Retrieved May 17, 2013)



E. City of Gainesville’s Flickr Page

Figure 24: City of Gainesville’s Flickr Page(Retrieved May 17, 2013)



F. City of Gainesville’s YouTube ChannelFigure 25: City of Gainesville’s YouTube Channel




Appendix D Existing Alachua County Social Media

Appendix D - Existing Alachua County Social MediaPage 64


Appendix D: Existing Alachua County Social Media

A. Alachua County’s Facebook Page

Figure 26: Alachua County’s Facebook Page(Retrieved May 17, 2013)



B. Alachua County’s Twitter Page

Figure 27: Alachua County’s Twitter Page(Retrieved May 17, 2013)



C. Alachua County’s YouTube ChannelFigure 28: Alachua County’s YouTube Channel




Appendix E Proposed Facebook Page

Appendix E -Proposed Facebook PagePage 70


Appendix E: Proposed Facebook PageFigure 29: Proposed Facebook Page

Retrieved October 3, 2013


Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization for the Gainesville Urbanized Area

Marlie Sanderson, AICP, Director of Transportation PlanningLuke Tia, Intern

Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization

for the Gainesville Urbanized Area

2009 NW 67th PlaceGainesville, FL 32653-1603

352.955.2200

www.ncfrpc.org/mtpo

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