How Social Are State DOTs? The evolution of state DOT social media usage

Lloyd D. BrownDirector of Communications

American Association of State

Highway and Transportation Officials

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting

Washington, DCJanuary 13, 2013

What we’ll cover

• Overview of the survey• New tools, old tools• Changing approach to usage• Challenges ahead

Social media tools

What’s so social about today’s media?• Facebook• Twitter• YouTube

It’s all about the conversation!

History of the survey

• AASHTO’s first social media survey of state DOTs published in 2010.

• 26 states were using Twitter – primarily relaying road/traffic information

• 14 states used Facebook.• 7 states had a blog• 10 states used podcasting

It was 1-way outreach in 2010

• Survey respondents said social media was effective way of reaching an audience

• Every state relied on news releases to reach media.

• Only two states said they had reduced or cut other activities to manage social media.

In 2012, the world changesGood bye old tools, Hello new tools

• 7 states use Pinterest, 4 states use Storify• Linkedin use cut in half, just 16% use

podcasts• 1/4th of states have staff dedicated to

social media full time• 11 states give their employees access to

social media sites at work.

Social Media Tool UsageMost used social media tools

2012 = Engagement

“We used to be very rigid and formal in all our responses. Now, we're trying to humanize the feed. We post pictures of ourselves and answer the feed as people (saying I and we) instead of an agency (DOT says...). It has helped tremendously and we've received really good public feedback!”

“We're seeing a slow and steady gain in Twitter and Facebook followers. We're seeing more and more people asking questions, sharing comments or airing concerns via these two medium.”

Challenges AheadToo many tools, not enough time

“Already we are spread kind of thin, so I anticipate we will have to make a choice at some point: either we shrink our social media presence and focus on the most successful/useful tools, or we hire someone to manage all of them full time.”

Challenges AheadEmployee access

Does the policy allow employees agency wide to access social media sites and tools?

Does your organization have a social media policy?

66.7%

28.6%

4.8%

Yes No Not Sure

26.2%

64.3%

2.4% 7.1%

Yes No Not Sure No Response

Putting social media to work

2011 focus groups & interviews reported state DOTs barriers to implementation:• Organizational culture• Budgets• Legal concerns

Looking ahead at 2013• Social media emerging as public

involvement tool.• A social media is standard tool. Focus now

is on best practices, staffing, access to tools.

• And …

In 2013 it’s all about MOBILE!

• 85% of U.S. adults own a cell phone.

• At least 25% own tablets (pre-holiday season)

This leads to:

"Just in Time" information searches

Massive downloads of data/apps

Where are the eyeballs?

‘Consumers downloaded a record 1.76 billion apps between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2012.’

http://gigaom.com/mobile/app-downloads-hit-record-1-76-billion-over-holiday-week/

Note the growth in tablet computer ownership

Conclusion

• State DOTs are actively using social media tools

• The way in which those tools are used is evolving

• There are challenges ahead• Mobile media is significant influence on

the choice of tools and their application

How Social Are State DOTs? The evolution of state DOT social media usage

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Contact: Lloyd D. Brown, Director of CommunicationsAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

(202) 624-5802 office(202) 677-5811 celllbrown@aashto.org