A case study on Social Media's role in South-East Queensland's Public Transport Network.

Cities all over the world have mass transit and public transport networks that range in size and scope keeping people moving all year round, 24 hours a day. One of the biggest innovations in the industry though has been in communication. South-East Queensland customers used to pick up timetable leaflets at train stations and bus stops, whereas they now jump online and plan their trips via Translink’s journey planner. Commuters have in the past formed community groups as a mechanism to provide feedback to public transport authorities, now their participation through social media is instantaneous. Customers can tweet at or post on social media platforms directly to transit authorities and provide real-time feedback and responses to advertising campaigns. This case study will examine three concepts to look at how social media is changing the industry. These concepts are Web 2.0, Networked Publics and Participatory Culture.

Social media has become a mainstay of business and personal communication within the last ten years, with the advent of Web 2.0. The public transport industry, specifically in South-East Queensland has certainly changed its business model of communicating with commuters to include social media as it’s central communication platform. Flew (2014, p.13) discusses the concept of Web 2.0 as the internet becoming a platform for delivering content directly to consumers, rather than users having to purchase software to access content. Translink is the governing body for public transport in the South-East Queensland region, as well as transport in other areas of the state (Translink, 2018). Translink provides information across a variety of internet platforms; including its main website. It also has a presence on Facebook and Twitter [see pictures below].

Queensland Rail, a provider of rail-based transportation in the South-East network, no longer prints timetables for public distribution. The organisation does display timetables at all stations behind clear-view cabinets and directs all enquiries for journey information to Translink’s online platforms (Queensland Rail media team, personal communication, March 29, 2018).

Web 2.0 also provides the public transport industry the opportunity to further develop information collected on social media platforms to respond more efficiently to customer needs and to analyse data to assist with future transport planning. Flew (2014, p. 14) discusses “The commercial value arising from the delivery of online services derives from the data inside, which enables tracking and predicting of user behaviour…and also new value-added services that can arise from combining databases…”. Flew states a concern over privacy. This privacy concern can be overcome by ensuring privacy laws are legislated correctly and clear guidelines are available to users advising how their data is being used. The only additional concern would be illegal data-breaches. An example of how Translink could take advantages of social media platforms that Web 2.0 has made possible is via automated relaying of service disruptions via social media platforms. By linking technology systems that monitor operational systems to social media feeds, code can be written that would send out tweets or Facebook posts automatically when services are delayed by more than 5 minutes. This would enable less human interference in mundane labour tasks and would “harness collective intelligence, connecting all elements of the network…” (Flew, 2014, p. 14).

The concept of Network Publics has also changed how public transport authorities and providers in South-East Queensland interact with commuters through digital technology. Boyd (2010, p.39) states, “Networked publics are publics that are restructured by networked technologies. As such, they are simultaneously (1) the space constructed through networked technologies and (2) the imagined collective that emerges as a result of the intersection of people, technology, and practice.” As previously mentioned Translink communicates via its Twitter and Facebook social media platforms. These network sites have several features, including on Facebook, the ability to ‘like’, ‘comment’, ‘share’ or ‘direct message’ posts and on Twitter ‘re-tweet’, ‘like’, ‘comment’, ‘direct message’ or externally share a tweet. Boyd (2010, p.44) discusses these features as “Tools for Public Communication”. These sites allow for members of the public to interact and communicate with Translink. Trankslink can also communicate with members of the public by posting a Tweet or making a post about a service disruption. Members of the public can also retweet back on Twitter or reply to the post via a public comment on Facebook. Public transport service providers may also have their own social network channels. Queensland Rail has a very popular Youtube page where it posts everything from publicity campaign videos to safety videos. The below video is a behind the scenes video about a day in the life of train drivers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1awjPUDjGs

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1awjPUDjGs

The Participatory Culture of Social Media in the public transport industry in Queensland has been limited to advertising and marketing campaigns and doesn’t significantly impact public transport policy. Public transport communication in South-East Queensland has always been based on the mass media and broadcasting model, “where there is one sender and many recipients” (Fuchs, 2014, p.52). Participatory Culture relies on the distribution of information from a variety of stakeholders and this traditional method of communication contradicts what participatory culture is. In March 2012, Queensland Rail launched an Etiquette campaign. The super simple ‘meme style’ campaign went across social media as well as being displayed in train carriages and print media. The campaign went viral with Queensland Rail Chief Communications officer Martin Ryan stating “The campaign took on a life of its own on social media and the overwhelming response was what prompted Queensland Rail to launch interactive versions of the posters…" (Ironside, 2012). However it is assumed that Queensland Rail did not envisage or encourage some of the more graphic memes that were created, as shown below.

Source - https://transportsydney.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/dumb-ways-to-die-and-train-etiquette/

Participatory culture has been celebrated as allowing more engagement between businesses and customers, however there is concern that it is exploitative by it’s very nature. Fuchs (2014, p.63) discusses arguments by other academics who are concerned that unpaid digital labour by consumers in campaigns that financially benefit an organisation is exploitative. This concern is then countered within the same discussion that financial reward can sometimes not be motivating factor and that participation by consumers is done for supplementary purposes. Certainly, in the case of the Queensland Rail ‘Super Simple’ meme campaign, participants were not financially rewarded for their work. It can be argued that Queensland Rail allowed consumer participation as way to develop better community relationships with its customers whilst also attempting to convey their primary message about on-board behaviour.

In conclusion this case study has examined three concepts as they relate to the public transport industry in South-East Queensland. The three concepts were Web 2.0, Networked Publics and Participatory Culture. When looking at Web 2.0 the case study examined how Quensland Rail has shifted to online social media platforms for delivering important travel information for customers. By examining the features of social media platforms, the case study was able to demonstrate how the Networked Publics concept has shaped the industry. Finally, Participatory Culture was scrutinised with the ‘Super Simple’ campaign showing how Queensland Rail’s customers and members of the public were able to participate in a marketing campaign as joint collaborator’s and whether this practise is exploitative.

References

Boyd, D. (2010). Social Network Sites as Networked Publics: Affordances, Dynamics, and Implications. In Papacharissi, Z. (Ed.) Networked Self: Identity, Community and Culture on Social Network Sites pp. 39-58. Retrieved from Queensland University of Technology QUT Readings.

Flew, T. (2014). Introduction to Media. In Flew, T. (Ed.), New Media (pp. 1 – 17). Retrieved from Queensland University of Technology QUT Readings.

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social Media as Participatory Culture. In Fuchs, C. (Ed.) Social Media: A Critical Introduction pp.52 – 68. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446270066.n3

Ironside, R. (2012, March 28). Queensland Rail launches new site where personal etiquette takes on new meaning. The Courier Mail. Retrieved from http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-rail-launches-new-site-where-personal-etiquette-takes-on-new-meaning/news-story/d13ba00430784ba30421634c61446a2d?sv=d980c1b5b26eb612c43cb26eceeff33f

Translink. (2018). Who we are. Retrieved from https://translink.com.au/about-translink/who-we-are

Translink. (2018). Translink Facebook home page. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/TransLinkQLD/

Translink. (2018). Translink Twitter home page. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/search?q=translink%20qld&src=typd