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Should City of Coronado Advertise Twitter & Facebook to Drivers?
A Coronado resident emailed us these photos today that show the City of Coronado encouraging drivers to 'like' the City of Coronado on Facebook and Twitter. In their email, they noted: Check out this distracting sign entering Coronado.
Does anyone else think this is an odd use of the electronic police sign coming onto Coronado? There is another identical sign near City Hall on the Strand. We have seen electronic police signs that promote safety-related messaging such as:
Click It or Ticket (wear your seatbelt)
Lower the Boom (turn your music down)
Slow Down (drive safely)
Perhaps, they are encouraging drivers to use social media to stay connected to what's going on in the city. Why not simplify it and just say: Click eCoronado.com :)
Here is their current count on Facebook & Twitter - we'll keep an eye on it to see if it starts to spike from this promotion.
210 Facebook Likes
621 Twitter Followers
What do you think?
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Staff Comment by Anne Covington Morse on June 22, 2012 at 11:33pm -
I noticed the sign by City Hall the other day, after detouring up the strand when the bridge was closed, and thought it was an odd use of the safety signs. I'd much rather have them portraying safety messages, or at that moment, giving us updates on the bridge situation and current closures.
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Comment by Ashley Jenkins on June 23, 2012 at 8:44am -
Agreed Anne! The first time I saw it the "Like Us on Facebook and Twitter" part of the message was up and I stared at the sign waiting for it to change to see the first part of the message. I was so confused as to why the words "Facebook" and "Twitter" were on a police sign. I enjoyed the clever safety messages that you could read at a glance and understand. Im not really in agreement with this however. Pretty weird and very distracting!
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Comment by lisa on June 23, 2012 at 9:40am -
The other night, my friend was driving up the strand because the bridge was closed and she hoped to see some useful information on the POLICE sign about the closure, but she was surprised and annoyed to see a marketing message about Facebook and Twitter! I think it is a poor and inappropriate use of a traffic sign.
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Comment by Jamie Edmonds on June 24, 2012 at 4:58pm -
So the City wants people to like them . . .
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Comment by TR on June 24, 2012 at 5:24pm -
Distracted drivers are already a problem with cell phones.
The number of "tourists" coming to Coronado who do not know their way around, don't need this distraction coming through the toll booths.
Please save this for safety concerns not advertising...
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Staff Comment by Kellee Hearther on June 24, 2012 at 8:03pm -
I agree with you Ashley and Anne. The last message I saw on one of those signs was something like, "School's out--watch for kids"....a much better reminder.
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Comment by Christopher Wilson on June 25, 2012 at 10:21am
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Had this same conversation with my wife last night as they were clearing an accident just past the wing, San Diego bound. There are a number of more appropriate uses for these signs other than self-promotion...
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Comment by Lynn Kerstan on June 25, 2012 at 12:01pm -
I suspect the sign is intended to promote tourism, not Facebook and Twitter. It simply urges people to share the awesomeness of Coronado. The message should be changed, certainly, if there is an announcement of bridge problems or a specific safety problem. The vague safety messages don't seem to have any impact. Drivers speed right past the 25MPH sign, talk on the phone and turn their heads to chat with others in the car.
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Comment by Mayor Casey Tanaka on June 25, 2012 at 5:18pm -
It will forever be a challenge to get useful information out to the public and to find the most productive avenues and means for distributing this useful info. The City is trying to reach out using Facebook and Twitter under the assumption that some of those who use these two forms of social media might not be the same people who receive email blasts of the city's weekly update or from other more traditional news sources. While these sign boxes are probably not the best way to enlist Facebook friends or Twitter followers, I think their intentions were fairly benign.
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Comment by TR on June 25, 2012 at 5:42pm
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Casey the only problem is that's a spot where:
#1 People are coming through toll gates
#2 People are slowing down dramatically
#3 People (tourists) are unfamiliar with their surroundings
#4 Adding one more distraction seems unnecessary at that particular point.
The motives are understandable, but it is plain and simple a distraction and given what drivers are already dealing with regarding cell phones, it seems disingenuous to add to the aforementioned list.
You are a great ambassador for the city... maybe you could create a campaign where all the local business put a City of Coronado facebook and/or twitter sign in their windows ...
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