WSDOT Social Media WSDOTs Twitter Direct Messaging Features IPMA - Social Media in Today's and Tomorrow's Government January 12, 2010 Erica Mulherin Social Media Manager Paula Hammond Secretary of Transportation Steve Reinmuth Chief of Staff Dave Dye Deputy Secretary

WSDOTs Twitter - main - Seattle area traffic - mountain pass - Tacoma traffic 2

WSDOTs Twitter - Clicking this will display all of our at replies. This will display your Direct messages. Tweets from our followers display on our twitter homepage.

A Tweet vs. a Direct Message 4 A tweet is like a public message or update - everyone can see it. is any Twitter update that begins Its directing your message to that person, but its still public. A Direct Message is essentially a private tweet between two users. The users have to be following each other for this feature to work.

Our Direct Messaging Features: Know Before You Go 5 Check mountain pass conditions Check Canadian border wait times Check aviation METAR weather reports Check Seattle area travel times. We are using Twitter to help keep you informed about happenings around Washington state. We provide information for you to make good travel decisions before you get into your vehicle and to "Know Before You Go". We regularly include "Know Before You Go" in our Twitter messages. In order to receive these reports from us, set yourself up with a Twitter account and follow WSDOT. Once we follow* you, you can get real time information using the following directions. *We do not follow everyone who follows us. We only follow people who we can verify that live in the State of Washington and are not spammers.

Our Direct Messaging Features: Know Before You Go - Travel Times 6 For a direct message from Twitter use this format: tt [route identifier] Example: tt seattle to bellevue Sample travel time text returned for Seattle to Bellevue: Seattle to Bellevue: 12 min via I-90 and 12 min via SR 520 For travel time reports from your cell phone, send a text message to using this format: d wsdot tt [route identifier] Example: d wsdot tt bellevue to issaquah Sample travel time text returned for Bellevue to Issaquah: Bellevue to Issaquah: 10 min via I-405 and I-90 Auburn to Renton Bellevue to Bothell Bellevue to Everett Bellevue to Federal Way Bellevue to Issaquah Bellevue to Lynnwood Bellevue to Redmond Bellevue to Renton Bellevue to Seattle Bellevue to Tukwila Bothell to Bellevue Everett to Bellevue Everett to Seattle Federal Way to Bellevue Federal Way to SeaTac Federal Way to Seattle Issaquah to Bellevue Issaquah to Seattle Lynnwood to Bellevue Lynnwood to Seattle Redmond to Bellevue Redmond to Seattle Renton to Auburn Renton to Bellevue Renton to Seattle SeaTac to Federal Way SeaTac to Seattle Seattle to Bellevue Seattle to Everett Seattle to Federal Way Seattle to Issaquah Seattle to Lynnwood Seattle to Redmond Seattle to Renton Seattle to SeaTac Tukwila to Bellevue Route Identifiers:

Our Direct Messaging Features: Know Before You Go - Pass Conditions 7 If you are a Twitter user you can get mountain pass conditions by sending a direct message to WSDOT. You can also get the pass report in a text message by sending a direct message from your phone via SMS, using the format below. For a direct message from Twitter use this format: pass [pass id] Example: pass sno For current mountain pass conditions from your cell phone, send a text message to using this format: d wsdot pass [pass id] Example: d wsdot pass ble Pass ids are based on the first three letters of the pass name.

Direct Messaging: What Does it Look Like? 8 Users checking pass conditions and travel times: What we send back in approximately 3-4 minutes:

The Twitter API 9 API (Application Programming Interface) is a way for a program (like Twitter) to allow certain parts of its data to be used by developers.

Our Messaging Features: Future Developments 10 Twitter Voice Getting voice wait times for WSF terminals via Twitter If you are a Twitter user you can receive automated voice calls for wait times at WSF terminals by sending a direct message to WSDOT. Send a direct message either from Twitter or from your phone via SMS, include the terminal code and the phone number you would like to receive the call on and we'll send it to you. New automated WSDOT accounts for: Spokane Vancouver/Portland area High impact travel alerts for Tacoma area will be tweeted automatically through the wsdot_tacoma account. Automated messages that cannot fit the 140 character limit will have bitly* links automatically generated to point to more information: Travel alerts Mountain pass reports *bitly is a URL shortening service