Well, here's a surprise. By pure fluke fbb was looking at First Devon's internet pages, and their helpful Tweets for Plymouth. Something seemed very familiar. See what you think.
Buses of Somerset, signing off on 3rd May ...
... and goodnight to you, CK.
Look forward to hearing from you at 0700 on Sunday.
... and goodnight to you, CK Look forward to hearing from you at 0700 on Sunday.
Thanks RJ. Thanks also for reminding us that it's Sunday service tomorrow.
First Devon singing off on 4th May ...
Thanks RJ. Thanks also for reminding us that it's Sunday service tomorrow.
First Devon signing off on 5th May ...
Thanks VS; we will enjoy! Have we met somewhere before?
fbb wonders, idly, how First Dorset will be tweeting assistance to their customers in the Weymouth area.
CK, RJ and VS must be rushing round the country to keep us all up to date.
I wonder how tweeting is going at First Hampshire for folk in Portsmouth and Southampton?
It's the sincerity and that personal local touch that brings a lump to your throat. What did that 2009 report say about the quality of Tweets?
Before somebody upbraids fbb, let the record show that there were, occasionally, relevant local touches on each "site"; but clearly this service is run from a central location and therefore can only pass on twit information that has been sent to them. It is highly likely that CK, RJ and VS have only a scant idea of operations in practice; they are passing on what they have been, remotely, told.
That's why customers needs local telephone lines manned by people on the spot and in the know. Of course, it is so much cheaper to ping out duplicate tweets. That'll shut the "wired" brigade up and make them think we are doing something to help them.
There will be on-line aficianados who will be screaming in pain at fbb's seemingly anti-Twit blog. Of course tweets are a wonderful way of keeping twitterers informed, especially when there is travel disruption. fbb's concern is whether this is the best way for the most people. And, of course, there is the enormous benefit of the two-way chat.
News of new(er) buses provokes reasoned debate and considered opinion in Taunton:-
Also note the high standard of grammar and the occasional burst of asperity. Certainly, Enid Scrott, of Tyne-E Cottage Crowcombe ...
... will find the debate uplifting as she waits for her 28 bus to Taunton at the end of the road. Volvo B7RLE phooey! A shelter, even a stop sign would be nice!
There will be on-line aficianados who will be screaming in pain at fbb's seemingly anti-Twit blog. Of course tweets are a wonderful way of keeping twitterers informed, especially when there is travel disruption. fbb's concern is whether this is the best way for the most people. And, of course, there is the enormous benefit of the two-way chat.
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Power to the Blog!
fbb was less than impressed, a week ago, with the Stagecoach Gold web site and its missing services. See "Going for Gold : New and Missing" (read again).
But they've appeared! Thrapston - Wellingborough - Northampton X46/X47 and the unnumbered Torquay gold have popped into their rightful place during the week.
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Vesoul variety continues soon
Next bus blog : Monday 12th May
Is the Twitter-sphere on the wane? I have just been analysing a survey of visitors in the High Street of a market town in the West Country, conducted last Saturday. Ages range from 16 to 65-plus. We had 120 interviews and one of the questions was 'Do you use Social Media?' The results were not good for Twitter.
ReplyDeleteYes, Facebook 57
Yes, Twitter 11
Yes, other 3 (I don't know what they were using!)
No 58
So this small survey, which covered all journey purposes and could be a reasonable snapshot of activity on the High Street, including bus users and non-bus users alike shows that Twitter is very much a minority interest. Indeed, almost half do not use any form of social media.
Now, I wonder what result we might have got if we had asked 'Do you have access to a Telephone?' Or even 'Can you read a bus timetable, printed on paper?'
Answer could well be:
DeleteAccess to telephone......yes
Read a timetable...no, followed maybe by, what's paper.
The Control Team at BoS tweet directly to the BoS twitter.
ReplyDeleteThe latest Stagecoach Gold service update is for 12 November 2013 with a road closure in Gloucestershire. http://www.stagecoachgold.com/service-updates.aspx
ReplyDelete