On February 4, Price Professor Lisa Schweitzer presented her research, Planning and Social Media: A Case Study of Transit Stigma and Twitter to standing room only at the University of Southern California.  The seminar was a joint effort of METRANS and the USC Price International Public Policy and Management (IPPAM) Student Association.  Schweitzer presented the findings of her analysis of a large sample of Twitter comments (64,000 observations) regarding various modes of transportation and transit services.  In her study, she discovered that these comments reflect more negative sentiments about public transit than do the comments about most other public services.  However, in analyzing the content of the complaints, she noted that there is a much higher proportion of negative statements about fellow transit patrons than complaints about the quality of service. 

This is important because “how media portray public transit services can affect the way voters and stakeholders think about future transit investments,” Schweitzer explained.   In doing the research for this study, she noted that “It became apparent to me that social media provides strategic opportunities for public agencies to improve customer service and craft a better image.”  Transit agencies are able to influence the tone of users’ comments through the way they engage with social media.   “Transit agencies that respond directly to questions, concerns, and comments of other social media users, as opposed to merely “blasting” announcements, have more positive statements about all aspects of services and fewer slurs directed at patrons, independent of actual service quality,” she found.   “The Agencies using Twitter to chat with users about their experiences or new service also have statistically significantly more positive sentiments expressed about them on social media. “

USC IPPAM international students found the seminar particularly useful for improving transit in their home countries when they return after completing their studies.  Kazuo Fueta, a business development manager in charge of fostering start-ups at  Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), was surprised to learn that “Public sectors are generally not good at social media.”  He noted, however, that he was heartened by the study results, and plans to make use of them when he returns to his position at the Ministry.  “In particular, I am glad to know that there is a potential to improve social services by mindfully using this technology.”    

Chibaek Kim, who works in the e-Government Policy Division of Korea’s  Ministry of Security and Public Administration realized during the seminar that, “customer service and customer satisfaction can be better achieved using social media.  I am a public official, so for me ‘public satisfaction’ is critical.  It was impressive, especially to learn that there are methods that public agencies can use to capture real-time data on customer preferences from social media feeds, which can be more timely than relying solely on administrative data.”

Practitioners in the audience were also intrigued.  When asked what he found most interesting, LA Metro Transportation Planner Matthew Kridler (USC Master of Planning, 2012) responded, “When correcting for slurs, (public) transit and airlines have similar if not equivalent satisfaction levels on social media.” 

Nicholas Busalacchi (USC Master of Planning 2014) found the research useful for his current doctoral studies at USC Annenberg.  There are “big implications for transit agencies to be more human.  (Schweitzer’s study is an) excellent foray into social media effects – a powerful contribution to both urban planning and communications,” he continued.  These research seminars are a great way to sample new and exciting research findings and to gain exposure to multidisciplinary perspectives.”

Schweitzer is an Associate Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. She specializes in urban studies, and, in particular, analyses of social justice, environment and transport. Her work has appeared in multiple popular and scholarly outlets, and her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. She maintains a blog about sustainable urbanism at www.lisaschweitzer.com.

The research described in the presentation was published in the following article:  Schweitzer, Lisa.  Planning and Social Media: A Case Study of Public Transit and Stigma on Twitter.  Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 80, No. 3, 2014, pp. 218-238. 

Schweitzer’s full presentation can be viewed on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFi5G1y6vaE