Simon Says: TfL's Twitter Investment is Awesome
TfL don’t do a lot right in my eyes. I feel overcharged often and daily moan about the lack of signs alerting tourists to stand on the right. But recently they made a social investment that made me smile. Their homepage proudly proclaimed they were on Twitter.
I wasn't that impressed at the time as I’ve been following TfL for a while, but clicked the link anyway. They now have Twitter accounts for every line. Ahead of the Olympic Games this is going to be useful.
We can all predict the large number of people flooding the streets of London will (at some point) spill into the underground and cause havoc. The Underground is clearly preparing for this is the most sensible way possible: Twitter. The real time nature of the platform will allow constant, up-to-the-minute updates for passengers. The segmented information feeds means if you only use the Northern Line you only hear about the issues on the Northern Line.
"But Simon" I hear you cry, "We can’t access the internet on the Underground, how will we ever know what’s going on?" Well fear not, the Underground has invested in 50 Wifi hotspots in stations and have plans for a further 130.
Personally I can see myself checking their Twitter feeds when I am planning a journey. Not while on the train. After all, they do have announcements on the train. I'd be very interested to see if TfL are going to intergrate the new feeds into their iPhone app. That would push real-time trip planning to the next level.
As with every new development or breaking news story there’s a joke account that could confuse some tourists. It looks pretty new, but might be worth a Follow.
This new investment in technology can only be a good thing. When delayed on the Underground I just want to tweet about it or browse the internet.
From the few people who have dabbled with the Wifi they say speeds are very fast, but I wonder if that’s because of the few people using it?
I am trying to be as cynical as I am usually, but I find it hard when I really believe this can only be a positive thing. Kudos TfL.
You can find the full list of Twitter accounts run by TfL here.
Photo (cc) Qsimple
20 July 2012 by Simon Caine
Simon is a social media manager by day & a stand-up comedian by night. You can also Follow him on Twitter. He has written a book called "How To Find A Job Using Twitter" (£1.99, Guardian Shorts).
Simon is a social media manager by day & a stand-up comedian by night. You can also Follow him on Twitter. He has written a book called "How To Find A Job Using Twitter" (£1.99, Guardian Shorts).
