"TSA Wants to Tweet With Travelers"
Jun 26, 2015, 5:05 am
#1
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"TSA Wants to Tweet With Travelers"
Propaganda Village expands? Or, is it a sneaky way for SPOTNiks to use Twitter to fill out a checklist on you? I've bolded some interesting stuff.
The solicitation contains a requirement to store and analyze your tweets:
The good news, of sorts, is that this is just a "sources sought" solicitation, so the TSA has not yet wasted taxpayer money on this except for the subscription costs for FedBizzOpps.
The Department of Homeland Security agency plans to set up a new Twitter account, @AskTSA, to respond directly to customer complaints and questions, according to a new solicitation.
<snip>
The notice comes a few days after travel website Travelmath released an analysis of Twitter users' sentiments toward TSA, using an algorithm to rank Twitter mentions in the United States as positive, negative or neutral. Among states that had enough TSA mentions to process, "nearly three times as many had a negative sentiment than a positive one," that report said. (Words such as “confiscate,” “grope” and “rude" were among words frequently mentioned in those tweets, according to Travelmath.)
Though TSA's solicitation is "for market research only," the agency is searching for small businesses who can provide a Web-based customer engagement platform that up to 10 TSA staffers can log onto concurrently, according to the posting on FedBizOpps.
The Web platform must have many functions, including a "robust content repository to store pre-approved content, canned responses and approved images," and an "interactive dashboard to engage in real time, one-to one conversations without ticket assignment," according to the solicitation
<snip>
The notice comes a few days after travel website Travelmath released an analysis of Twitter users' sentiments toward TSA, using an algorithm to rank Twitter mentions in the United States as positive, negative or neutral. Among states that had enough TSA mentions to process, "nearly three times as many had a negative sentiment than a positive one," that report said. (Words such as “confiscate,” “grope” and “rude" were among words frequently mentioned in those tweets, according to Travelmath.)
Though TSA's solicitation is "for market research only," the agency is searching for small businesses who can provide a Web-based customer engagement platform that up to 10 TSA staffers can log onto concurrently, according to the posting on FedBizOpps.
The Web platform must have many functions, including a "robust content repository to store pre-approved content, canned responses and approved images," and an "interactive dashboard to engage in real time, one-to one conversations without ticket assignment," according to the solicitation
-Provide archives and/or tracking/tagging of interaction/conversation history, topics and collaborative notes.
-Ability to assess, view and report metrics and trends.
-Ability to assess, view and report metrics and trends.
Jun 26, 2015, 5:35 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,526
Or maybe it's for reasons like this:
http://elliott.org/blog/scared-into-silence-by-the-tsa/
http://elliott.org/blog/scared-into-silence-by-the-tsa/
“I didn’t say anything to anyone from TSA because I know that is a no-win situation,” he said.
He didn’t know how true that was. A few minutes later, he blew off some steam into the Twitterverse with the following message:
Hey @TSA I had to pull laptop and liquids out of my bag at @PHL today. This is main reason I have pre-check. Thanks for the extra hassle!
And wouldn’t you know it, the TSA was watching.
He didn’t know how true that was. A few minutes later, he blew off some steam into the Twitterverse with the following message:
Hey @TSA I had to pull laptop and liquids out of my bag at @PHL today. This is main reason I have pre-check. Thanks for the extra hassle!
And wouldn’t you know it, the TSA was watching.
Jun 26, 2015, 6:35 am
#3
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,657
As to the original solicitation ... if all the TSA Twitter account is going to do is regurgitate back pre-approved statements, it's going to be useless.
Unless, of course, the Twitterverse decides to make the TSA Twitter account a target of scorn and mockery, in which case the results might be amusing. But, nah, that never happens on Twitter ...
Jun 26, 2015, 9:20 am
#4
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Yeah, I can just see me asking a TSO to tweet TSA HQ to get a definitive answer on whether or not nitro pills are allowed.
HQ will tweet back the same reply that's on the website, which is about liquids, not pills.
The TSO will see that, scratch his/her head, and point out that my pills aren't allowed because they are not liquids.
HQ will tweet back the same reply that's on the website, which is about liquids, not pills.
The TSO will see that, scratch his/her head, and point out that my pills aren't allowed because they are not liquids.
Jun 26, 2015, 9:29 am
#5
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Meh. "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc" is still a logical fallacy, no matter how much the author wishes it to be true.
As to the original solicitation ... if all the TSA Twitter account is going to do is regurgitate back pre-approved statements, it's going to be useless.
Unless, of course, the Twitterverse decides to make the TSA Twitter account a target of scorn and mockery, in which case the results might be amusing. But, nah, that never happens on Twitter ...
As to the original solicitation ... if all the TSA Twitter account is going to do is regurgitate back pre-approved statements, it's going to be useless.
Unless, of course, the Twitterverse decides to make the TSA Twitter account a target of scorn and mockery, in which case the results might be amusing. But, nah, that never happens on Twitter ...
Regurgitating pre-approved statements is pretty much what the TSA Blog is doing so why expand an already useless operation?
I wonder if TSA would keep this in house or farm it out to contractors like they did the complaint process?
Jun 26, 2015, 10:05 am
#6
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,657
If all this is is a public relations stunt, then TSA could just as easily farm it out to contractors who will have no real knowledge or authority.
On the other hand, if TSA wants to model this service after the airlines, who actually intervene in real-time on behalf of passengers, then this would probably have to be run in-house.
Last edited by jkhuggins; Jun 26, 2015 at 10:28 am Reason: spelling
Jun 26, 2015, 10:14 am
#7
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...but that would make too much sense...<sigh>...
Jun 26, 2015, 1:04 pm
#8
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What they should do is replace the voodoo SPOTnick program with this Twitter thing. It would be much cheaper, and TSA wouldn't have to count on "microexpressions" to determine what the passengers are really thinking...
...but that would make too much sense...<sigh>...
...but that would make too much sense...<sigh>...
There is no reason that government should be involved in the direct security operations of private business.
Jun 26, 2015, 6:54 pm
#9
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I think it will just be another way to communicate nonsense and funnel complaints, questions and suggestions to the same black hole as the blog responses and current complaint process.
HQ prefers to focus on frills while avoiding the serious issues.
HQ prefers to focus on frills while avoiding the serious issues.
Last edited by chollie; Jun 26, 2015 at 7:04 pm