Social Media Lessons for the Transportation Funding Debate

Recently I’ve been rummaging around in the blogosphere reading about how social media has ignited a revolution in the way associations do business. In the process, I stumbled across an essay that reminds of the debate that’s happening now between those who advocate moving to comprehensive road user charging in transportation (VMT and the like) and those who want to preserve the status quo of fuel taxes, the Highway Trust Fund, and related structures. You can see many manifestations of this debate in National Journal’s expert blog on transportation.

Here is a short excerpt from a blog posting by Maddie Grant of Social Fish. In it she’s debating a colleague about two vastly different approaches for getting associations to adopt and embrace the social media tools that presumably will make them more effective. Maddie’s argument makes me wonder whether we in the transportation community are really listening to one another or if we’re talking past one another. Here’s an excerpt from Maddie:

I absolutely believe there is a revolution. The existence of the revolution is not in question. We fundamentally agree! Where we differ is in our approach to pushing the association industry to join in the revolution. You are coming at them with a big torch, lighter fluid and matches. I am coming at them with a smile, a cocktail and a bowl of red pills. You say, "join the revolution or face extinction"; I say, "come with me, take my hand, you'll love it, it will change your life and how you work forever".You want them to burn their houses down in order to rebuild; I want them to take all the doors and windows off, open up their interior walls, and get rid of most of their furniture. The end result should be the same - a different (open) landscape and a different (collaborative) way of working - but I think my way will work faster and minimize the damage (to people and structures).You may think we can't create a new world on top of the old; I think you have to respect the history of an industry that has evolved purely from hard work and common goals, at the same time as you work to convince the people in that industry to change the way they do everything.

The rest of Maddie’s blog essay is definitely worth reading. So, what can we learn from social media gurus about how to help a community evolve and encourage parts of the industry to adopt the tools and techniques they desperately need to survive and prosper? Are we talking with one another or past one another in the transportation funding debate? Let me know what you think.

-- Pat Jones