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Telling Our Land Transport Story Through Social Media

Mon, 08/01/2016 Deanna Bonaparte
Telling Our Land Transport Story Through Social Media A scroll down our social media news feeds will expose us to a host of issues with which society is concerned. These issues are likely to be met with a flood of inputs from netizens, whose engagement on social media platforms has become somewhat a lifestyle.

A key challenge faced by entities today is that netizens are quick to make judgements on issues based on a meme, the headline of an article, or the first paragraph of a Facebook blurb written by a sensationalist writer. This tendency to be reactive stems from the short attention span among netizens – an effect engendered by the rapid exchange of information on social media.

In order to overcome this challenge, Dexter Tay and his team in the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) Interactive Media Unit adopt innovative ways to create attention-grabbing and engaging content. “This could range from impactful photography to GIFs and light-hearted posts, but the aim is always to capture and sustain people’s attention, in order to educate and tell them our side of the story,” explains Dexter.

A Sense of Fulfilment

In the Interactive Media Unit, Assistant Manager Dexter handles LTA’s social media accounts. More specifically, he develops and implements effective social media strategies that integrate with LTA’s overall communications strategy, and generates content for LTA’s social media platforms to engage the community. “One fulfilling aspect about my job is being given the opportunity to showcase the dedication and hard work put in by the many men and women that work behind the scenes at LTA,” Dexter shares.

He continues, “These are people who work tirelessly, often through the nights, to improve public transport reliability and build critical land transport infrastructure. On occasions where we get to feature behind-the-scenes work on social media, it’s very heartening to see netizens react so positively to the hard work that our engineers put in, day and night.”

For Dexter, fulfilment is also derived from the success of meaningful events. One such event is Singapore’s first ever Bus Carnival held in March this year. He recalls, “I was amazed at the amount of fond memories Singaporeans have for our public buses. Speaking to the carnival attendees made me realise just how far the public bus industry has come. The video commissioned by LTA also went viral, attracting over a million views and generating lots of positive comments on the various social media platforms!”

A Meaningful Endeavour

In the Interactive Media Unit, Dexter hopes to help lead the drive towards a more data-centric approach to social media communication. “The online media affords for precise, real-time analytics. I hope to be able to contribute by turning social media communication into a mode of communication that is part-art, part-science,” he shares.

For those who wish to join him in shaping LTA’s social media communication efforts, he assures, “Fresh graduates can look forward to having the opportunity to understand the complex trade-offs and policy considerations that underlie that many decisions that LTA takes. They will also relish the challenge of having to condense these into messages that the public can relate to. There is certainly never a dull day here.”

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