06/02/09 - Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco announced that the city will now make their 311 information reporting service accessible via Twitter. Instead of making a phone call, members of the public can send a short message called a "tweet" to alert the city about a pothole, or simply find out about the City’s green initiatives.
The 311 Customer Service Center, which launched in March 2007, has received over 5 million calls and serves callers in more than 176 languages. "I’m very excited that San Francisco is the first major City to roll out an application of this magnitude on Twitter," said Newsom. "We are changing the way cities connect with their government."
Twitter is a social networking service that can be used with ease on both PCs and mobile devices. Because it limits users to very short messages of 140 characters or less, it has become one of the largest platforms in the world for sharing real-time data. Via Twitter, the City will receive real-time reports on the needs of specific city services and depending on the device, users can accompany their tweet with a photograph for added clarification.
To be able to "tweet" into the SF 311 call center, users must go to sftwitter.sfgov.org. and click on "Follow Me." Users will then receive an email and/or direct message from the call center with the response, "How can I help you?" Users who do not have a twitter account will be asked to register with Twitter.
The idea for this new application developed during a meeting with Mayor Newsom and Twitter founder Biz Stone and Twitter CEO Evan Williams. During that meeting the Mayor received a "tweet" from a citizen regarding a pothole. As a follow-up, Mayor Newsom directed the Department of Technology to brainstorm on how the City could use Twitter’s unique platform to create a two-way form of communication with constituents.
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