I recently spent some time in Colorado and as I was driving along highway E-470 I noticed an interesting social campaign unfolding before my eyes. On the emergency digital road sign, which is typically used for Amber Alerts, Highway Accidents, and Emergency Road Announcements, the sign said, “E-470 Live Twitter Chat - Tweet 2 Win June 15th 11AM” – while I understand the intention of a Social Media campaign, I could not help but think to myself how people can misconstrue this for a promotion to tweet while driving – can you say dangerous?? I don’t believe that signs like this should be used to advertise a sweeps or anything for that matter other than what it was intended for. With all the hype the story hit the local news, it seems many others felt the same way I did and I was not surprised. A spokesperson for the highway said the message was never intended to promote tweeting while driving at all. Well I bet they learned their lesson and I am sure they will think twice now about promoting the use of social media on their emergency road signs.
Check out the news story here, "E-470 Twitter Signs Cause Controversy"
