Saturday, March 8, 2014

Translink Facebook page launch a total failure.

On or around the 26th of February 2014 the Translink Facebook page went live. Information about the Facebook page launch was unavailable until the 4th of March when the Department of Transport and Main Roads issued this statement



At the time of writing no other announcement or promotion of the Facebook page has been issued. The minister Scott Emerson has made no statement through his website or on Twitter, the Translink website has no media releases and contains no mention or links to the Facebook page, and the Twitter handle @translinkseq has made no mention of the Facebook page.

On March the 6th this article appeared in The Courier Mail (online) titled "TransLink launches Facebook page and probably regrets it already". In it seasoned reporter Robyn Ironside outlines the wave of complaints and disparaging statements that followed the discovery of the page by residents of South East Queensland. These complaints have continued to pour in and a series of accusations of political bias and censorship have been received. We were active on the Translink page during this time and were subsequently banned from the page due to the repetitive nature of our posting. We also garnered more than 100 new followers. While we were one of the prominent posters of disparaging remarks Robyn Ironside and her editors were careful not to mention us or our name.

The vast majority of posts to the Translink Facebook page are from unhappy customers. Many have been very unsatisfied with the response of the page moderators to their complaints. One of the most poignant criticisms is that Translink's approach to community engagement through social media is typical of their style of engagement overall. Translink Facebook page moderators have been accused of being disingenuous gatekeepers with no real concern for attending to needs of customers.

To sum it up. No promotion and the absolute bare minimum of notice given to the public who actually use the services offered. One media story that highlights the extreme levels of public anger and frustration at Translink.


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