Chicago: Study Says CTA Attracts More Haters on Twitter Than Other Transit Agencies

from RedEye, via Mass Transit Mag:


Feb. 12--The CTA tends to draw more trolls on Twitter than other major public transit systems possibly because the agency doesn't regularly respond to rider comments, which is key in tamping down critics on social media, according to a new university study that analyzed mean tweets toward public transit systems.

The CTA was the least popular public transit system on Twitter among the 10 systems that were part of the University of Southern California study, which was published in December in the Journal of the American Planning Association.

The six-year study also looked at Twitter commentary about transit systems compared with chatter about celebrities, police departments and social programs. There were more mean tweets about the CTA than the IRS and the Kardashians but the CTA but did fare better on Twitter than Osama bin Laden, Obamacare and the Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay group that pickets military funerals.

Lisa Schweitzer, a USC public policy professor who authored the report, found the CTA does not have much Twitter interaction with its riders compared with other public transit agencies, which could be why there is so much negative feedback on Twitter about the CTA. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/11842544/study-says-cta-attracts-more-haters-on-twitter-than-other-transit-agencies