Gregory's ServerTo be fair, if you go to their website it does say that you can also use SMS, but there’s no mention of that on the message that was displayed on the train.
https://www.ns.nl/reisinformatie/voorzieningen/veiligheid-in-de-trein-en-op-het-station.html
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30 comments
 @ater @Brendanjones In Canada Facebook won't let us share news stories (because they don't want to pay our government for the rights to use articles). This has lead to problems during crises such as wildfires where people need info on safe places, etc.. Traditionally Facebook was one of the places a lot of people turned to for emergency updates and general info. @AskPippa @ater @Brendanjones Are you aware of any projects/products out there specifically as, perhaps, "social media for Canadians dealing with natural disasters"? Just curious... @gkcan @AskPippa @ater @Brendanjones Mastodon? You know, where anyone can publish and you can follow the feeds that are relevant to you. Thing is, I wouldn't do such a project a different way. For most people, natural disasters are a rare occurrence. The whole purpose of using existing networks like FB or Twitter was to escalate those rare occurrences on the channels people are already using. We do the same things with TV and radio. I don't want more channels, let's use the ones we have. @gatesvp @gkcan @AskPippa @Brendanjones "We do the same things with TV and radio" I'm not Canadian so if that's an option, good on you. Not here, though. @Brendanjones You can bet Meta has lobbied governments to encourage its use within government itself as well as between the public and government. Microsoft has and does, which is why its apps and document file formats remain the standard in many governments around the globe. It's surprising where FOSS has supplanted Microsoft that communications haven't uniformly shifted away from monopolistic providers. @femme_mal @Brendanjones Similar to how Amazon/AWS has the most contracts with the US government (or maybe just defence, IIRC) than any other big-tech company... @femme_mal @Brendanjones I assume its largely based on "How many people already use platform X", and probably consultants who can sell a easy way to maintain a comms presence on these platforms, Meta has been really good at "improving" the stickiness of its network effect. @Brendanjones I was looking at once of these NS train display a minute before I saw your toot and, though the WhatsApp default stuck me as weird too, it definitely also mentions sms  @kingrat @iantriggs and you don't? What's *your* solution? And don't say "revolution". Allow whatever methods that allow the most people to contact them. Preferably a few. If WhatsApp + SMS get to 95% of the target population, I don't see why not. I'd personally prefer Signal for this sort of thing, but there's like 0.23% of people using it, so it seems kind of dumb to devote a lot of resources for Phil's Ideologically Blessed Methods. @sjoerdklarenbeek Allow whatever methods that allow the most people to contact them. Preferably a few. If WhatsApp + SMS get to 95% of the target population, I don't see why not. I'd personally prefer Signal for this sort of thing, but there's like 0.23% of people using it, so it seems kind of dumb to devote a lot of resources for it. @Brendanjones i travel on NS trains extremely regularly and every screen showing that message that i’ve seen has mentioned that you can contact them over SMS /or/ WhatsApp. i’ve never seen this message without listing SMS as an option. here, WhatsApp is an alternative that many travellers will prefer, not the sole (or even primary) mode of contact.
@GromBeestje @Brendanjones Indeed, WhatsApp _of_ SMS is what's printed on all these stickers. I agree with OP that we shouldn't rely on WhatsApp but NS is doing perfectly fine here. @mdv @Brendanjones  @mdv @GromBeestje I’ve also seen it before with SMS as an option. This post wasn’t meant to dunk on NS too much – though I do take issue with them only listing WhatsApp on the train screen I saw – think of the post more as a prop for the general point around access to public services :) @Brendanjones Also, SMS is kind of broken (if we care about security) for "old" networks (3g and below) beause of how the SS7 system works. It would be better if they also offered other more secure alternatives. I'm not sure what that would be, though.  Last time the SMS number was on display on wall in the train (i didn't use it, i used the online form of dutch police later).  @Brendanjones It is simple change the message on the trains. I also thought that just mentioning WhatsApp on NS was not good.  @Brendanjones To be fair SMS is also routed via private services, using phones from private companies. At some point reality hits and we need to go with the times. I believe diversity in options is what we really want. @Brendanjones Whether sms is mentioned or not is irrelevant; the scandal is that public and state institutions are introducing citizens to private monopolists. @Brendanjones Sadly enough the Dutch railway service is since long not a public service anymore but a private company. But I still fully agree with your statement. |
@Brendanjones The only way I can get emergency information in my small town is through Facebook. I don't have an account so half the time I'm trying to find out why power is out or whatever I'm blocked by a login screen.