Photo credit: Dave Wilson Cumbria on Flickr
Some says it’s the similarity to CB radio that makes Twitter popular among truckers.
I’ve heard this from a few of the trucking folks online – including, for example, the TruckerToTrucker blog.
“The social networking site, with its mini-blog format, is the perfect online medium for truckers. Twitter lends itself equally well to long periods of inactivity or short breaks,” reads this post that lists top truckers to follow on Twitter.
Consider the similarities. Both Twitter and CB radio use brief, to-the-point comments and allow people to connect from remote places. You communicate with people you don’t know and form remote relationships – via radio or the Internet – with people you’ve never met in real life.
Both use their own abbreviations that might not make sense to others who don’t use these forms of communication. But for truckers – and others who spend a lot of time alone – these abbreviations and short updates keep them connected with others, for work, idea exchange, and company during long hours of solitude. I picture the truckers I follow – parked at rest stops, catching up on tweets, and sharing their opinions.
Truck and transport folks in BC
I asked John McMahon, executive director of the Trucking Safety Council of BC, if he knew how many truckers in our province are on Twitter – but it’s hard to get hard and fast stats at this point in time. There’s no central place to monitor this sort of information, and people find their own connections on Twitter in many different ways.
John described how the TSCBC continues its efforts to connect with truck and transport folks.
“We are using social media to reach out to our community and establish a relationship with them to help support them in their health and safety interests,” he said, via email. “By doing so, we (TSCBC) hope to engage more and more trucking companies and drivers in initiatives, programs and awareness campaigns that will ultimately improve their health and safety and that of others connected with the industry.”
What’s your Twitter handle?
You can follow me on Twitter, where I’m @SpeakinofSafety – and, if I’m not following you yet, please leave your Twitter handle in the Comments below.
I hope the parallels don’t extend too far. CB communication usually takes place while the driver is at the wheel. Obviously that isn’t a good way to use Twitter.
Thank you,
@kwculp
Good point Kevin! I don’t mean to imply the truckers are “twiving” (a new word meaning “tweeting and driving”). They can still use the *actual* CB radio while driving and then Twitter while on a break – for something a little different (but still similar).