A few thoughts on the value of online, mobile communication tools presented during Social Media and ITS Webinar sponsored by Thinking Highways, Nov. 20, 2013.

1. Social Media and ITS Webinar
Hos t e d by Thi nk i ng Hi ghw a ys
W e d n e s d a y, N o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 3
Social media: Why it matters
A few thoughts on the value of online, mobile communication tools
Lloyd Brown
Director of Communications
American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

2. What we’ll cover
• Why is social media important to
AASHTO?
• The current state of DOTs social media
usage

3. Social media = All ages
“Six out of 10
internet users ages
50-64 are social
networking site
users, as are 43% of
those ages 65 and
older.”
- Pew Study
Source: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/social-networking-sites/Findings.aspx?view=all

4. News
consumption
• Half of Facebook and Twitter
users get news at a social site.
• 65% of U.S. adults get news on
one social site; 26% from two
sites; 9% get news from three
or more sites.
Source: http://www.journalism.org/2013/11/14/news-use-across-social-mediaplatforms//

5. Looking
for News
“ 50% of the public
now cites the
internet as a main
source for national
and international
news, still below
television, but far
above newspapers
and radio.”
Source: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/10/16/12-trends-shaping-digital-news/

6. Connected devices here to stay
American ownership:
• Cell phones - 91%
• Netbooks/laptops - 61%
• E-readers - 26%
• Tablet computers - 34%
As of May 2013. Source: http://pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data-(Adults)/DeviceOwnership.aspx
4/26/2012
6

7. The current state of
DOT SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

8. 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

9. Social media tool usage
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
Most
used
social
media
tools
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Flickr
Blogs
Video
Podcasts
Pinterest
Storify
Other

10. 2012-2013 = 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.”

11. Challenges ahead
Too 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.”

12. Looking ahead at 2014
• Social media emerging as public
involvement tool.
• Social media are standard tools. Focus
now is on best practices, staffing, access
to tools.
• And … A new opportunity for
engagement

13. Social media: Why it matters
A few thoughts on the value of online,
mobile communication tools
Contact:
Lloyd D. Brown, Director of Communications
American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials
(202) 624-5802 office
(202) 677-5811 cell
lbrown@aashto.org
10/30/2012
13