NYC transit agency pulls the brake on Twitter service alerts

[ificandream]

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Shortly after midnight Thursday, several New York City subway trains slowed to a crawl as emergency crews tended to a person discovered on the tracks in Manhattan.

The delays were flagged for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rail control center, where a customer service agent typed up a straightforward warning for early-morning riders to consider alternate routes.

But while the message was quickly posted to the MTA’s website and app, the alert never made it to the subway system’s Twitter account, with its 1 million followers. The agency’s access to the platform’s back-end, officials soon learned, had been suspended by Twitter without warning.

It was the second such breakdown in two weeks and the reaction inside the MTA was swift. By Thursday afternoon, senior executives agreed to cease publishing service alerts to the platform altogether. The decision put the country’s largest transportation network among a growing number of accounts, from National Public Radio to Elton John, who have reduced their Twitter presence or left the platform since its takeover by Elon Musk.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/twitter-mta-subway-new-york-b1a95fe6893659cebf7d1454ede76719

[Cha]

1. Worthy of a Kick! TY!

[NullTuples]

2. So the question is, will they quit Twitter or go running back? There *are* alternatives now.

If it gets enough negative response, Elon will make sure they're reinstated. If he like them, anyway.

But they could accomplish the same goals on other platforms. Mastodon on a major instance would be well-suited since they just need riders to follow them for push messaging. Or their own if they want to bring it in-house and just keep it single user.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. "cease altogether" does not sound like "go running back" or return any time soon. . . nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Reading the article excerpt reveals they "in-house" already, since they have their own app. . nt

[NullTuples]

10. People tend to be less likely to install a single app than a social media one

[sir pball]

14. The MTA offers a text/email alert service. It's perfect.

You go to their website, give them your contact info, select what alerts you want, and that's that. You don't need to install an app, or even open an existing one – any relevant notifications pop up as a regular message. It's hands-down the best way IMO, since you're proactively notified of any issues rather than potentially missing something by forgetting to check the TwitFaceInstaTok.

[brooklynite]

8. Why would they "run back"

Unless Musk caves, the monthly cost for posting live notices is too high for the budget.

That said, Mastadon and Post News don’t come close to being alternatives. And Facebook doesn’t serve as a real time information platform.

[Hekate]

3. Good for them. Before Muskrat, Twitter had made itself a place both for reliable news agencies and

…public service announcements from places like MTA — as well as a means of communication for ordinary groups when other means broke down.

As much as I joined my fellow DUers in sneering at Twitter, it really had a niche which turned into something valuable — as we now see as it is being destroyed for reasons we can’t even fathom.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Agree with that, those out and about could get notices on their phones

It's really too bad that it's no longer a safe alternative.

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

6. "Ego" Musk is now putting peoples' lives in jeopardy.

This pathetic tiny little man has the most erratic and senseless behavior of any CEO in recent memory. His imperatives are becoming increasingly reckless and foolish.

How much longer before some other platform tilts the needle and twitter is DOA ?

[Golden Raisin]

7. I live in NYC. I get the MTA subway/bus alerts directly on my phone

and laptop. No need for 3rd Party unless someone wants that platform. Recently deactivated my Twitter account for various reasons, most prominently Musk.

[orleans]

9. did you get the alert the article was referencing? (just curious) nt

[Wonder Why]

12. Public agencies should never have been using privately run social media over which

they have no control.

Private social media sites are there to make a profit, not to provide public service. Use of it by residents requires they sign up for an account on a private site that just want to steal and sell their personal information.

There needs to be a publicly funded (or non-profit) social media site that local governments can subscribe to (and pay a fee to use) that residents can opt in to different types of notifications and be guaranteed that the site will never gather information from the use of the site.

[diva77]

13. This. Also, you could substitute the word "elections" for "social media" and that would be an

important statement as well.