A broad look at the emerging trends in social media and how state DOTs are deploying social media tools.

1. Social Media, the Big Picture
Today‟s Internet is everywhere … Are you ready?
Lloyd D. Brown, Director of Communications
Western Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials
August 7, 2013

2. What we’ll cover
• What are the trends in social media usage,
tool adoption
• The current state of DOTs social media
usage

3. Let’s review
• 1990 - AOL rules
• 1996 – Cable broadband
• 1998 – “Online PR”
• 2000 – Rise of streaming audio
• 2002 – AOL disappearing
• 2005 – What‟s a blog?
• 2006 – We need a blog!
• 2007 – Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin
• 2009 – Smart phones, iPads = mobility
To get to the
heart of social
media adoption,
we first must
understand
Internet access.

4. Race
Education
Geography
Disability
Internet access
Contributing factors Latest statistics
Pew Internet and American Life Project, http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Digital-
differences/Overview.aspx
• Nearly 1 in 5 Americans
do not use Internet
• A third of Americans with
disabilities are less likely
to go online
• „Mobile‟ is changing the
game

5. SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS
It‟s a mobile world

6. Social media tools
What‟s so social about today‟s media?
• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube
It’s all about the conversation!

7. Facebook
Still one of the most
challenging social
media outlets.
• Privacy
• Changing
algorithms
• Facebook „fatigue‟

8. Twitter
Microblogging site
continuing to change our
news/information culture
in 140 characters.
• 7 years old
• 400 million „tweets‟ a
day
• Careers devastated,
careers made

9. YouTube
Search Email Shop Social
network
Banking
92% 91% 71% 64% 61%
• More than 1
BILLION visitors a
day
• More than 2
BILLION searches
a day
http://youtu.be/6f-z_hFpwQk
So what are people doing online?

10. Instagram
• 130 million users
• 16 billion photos shared
• On average, users spent 257
mins./month on Instagram

11. Quick pause: Do you remember?

12. Social media = All ages
“Six out of ten
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

13. Social media usage
Source: http://sourcedigit.com/1488-social-media-trend-2013-social-networking-is-all-about-mobile/
* Per month
*

14. Wireless generations?
• 63% of American adults
connect to the Internet
wirelessly
• However, 6 in 10
American adults connect
via broadband (as of Aug.
2011)
 Nearly 90% of adults with
household income over
$75,000 annually have
broadband access.
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Source: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Digital-differences/Overview/Digital-differences.aspx

15. Connected devices here to stay
American ownership:
• Cell phones - 91%
• Netbooks/laptops - 61%
• E-readers - 26%
• Tablet computers - 34%
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As of May 2013. Source: http://pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data/Device-Ownership.aspx

16. Forget the desk: We’re moving
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Since 2009, laptop
computers have
out sold desktops
Source:
http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-
Pages/Trend-Data/Device-
Ownership.aspx

17. 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/

18. We love our ‘smart’ phones
• 91% of ALL adults own a mobile phone
• Smart phone owners (56%) now outnumber
users of basic cell phones.
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Source: http://pewinternet.org/Trend-Data-%28Adults%29/Device-Ownership.aspx

19. Mobile phones open opportunities
New York Times:
“Other cultural forces
aside, minorities, lower-
income households and
younger adults access the
Internet at higher rates on
mobile devices because
they often do not have
computers at home.”
4/26/2012 19
Photo by Ed Yourdon
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/technology/02drill.html?_r=1

20. Emerging social media
• Pinterest
• Storify
• SnapChat
• Vine
• Path
• Banjo

21. DOT SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
The current state of

22. 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

23. 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.

24. In 2012, the world changes
Good 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.

25. Social media tool usage
Most
used
social
media
tools

26. 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.”

27. 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.”

28. 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 …

29. IN A SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD
Establishing a brand …

30. A new opportunity for engagement
Formal federal
decision-making
process does not
directly provide for
the use of these
new engagement
technologies … but
also doesn‟t
prohibit them.
4/26/2012 30

31. New technologies = Old problems
• You still need a message
that beaks through the
information clutter
• Accuracy and timeliness of
information remain critical
concerns for
communication teams
• New tools complement old
tactics … more pressure on
communication teams to
manage more tools
4/26/2012 31

32. Have a plan – use it
• What are you trying to do?
 Be informational? Collect comments? Be
promotional? You need to know this.
• Audience?
 Where are they most likely to be? What are they most
likely doing?
• Be patient: Building community takes time.
 No. 1 rule of engagement: “Have a take. Don‟t suck.”
(lifted from sports radio host, Jim Rome)

33. When building ‘social’ plan
Keep doing the basics well.
• Be available: Is the web site easy to
access? What about a mobile app?
• Be responsive: Are there internal
processes in place to handle questions or
to pass along information?
• Be creative: Are there opportunities to
engage the public in new ways?
4/26/2012 33

34. Conclusion
• The public is moving, no longer limited by
time or space.
• The new technologies bring with them old
challenges … and, new opportunities
• Focus on a core communications program
that includes:
 Accountability
 Responsiveness
 Creativity
4/26/2012 34

35. Social Media, the Big Picture
10/30/2012 35
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
Today‟s Internet is everywhere … Are you ready?