Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, a tech-savvy city leader, held a Twitter chat session Friday to interact with college students in the city, including students attending Boston University.
The chat, which Walsh started at about 2:38 p.m. with a Vine welcoming students back to Boston and concluded at about 3:16 p.m., allowed students to send in their questions to the mayor using the hashtag #Boston101.
#Boston101, an awareness campaign by the city of Boston intended as a “student guide to city services,” provides information about off-campus living safety as well as city transportation and recreation, according to the city’s #Boston101 student guide.
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An informational site also lists a hotline and the Twitter handle @NotifyBoston for students to contact the city about residential concerns.
“As Boston’s mayor, I am glad you are here,” Walsh said in a message on the #Boston101 site. “Boston is one of the world’s greatest hubs of higher education, and students are a vital part of our community.”
Walsh posed questions to students in the chat, including what city-related apps would be helpful to college students. Among the responses were suggestions for apps that indicate police presence in real time, enable students to share rides to and from the airport and give information about the city’s food trucks.
Paul Bologna, 22, of Mission Hill, is a fifth-year Northeastern University student who recommended to Walsh that he work with landlords to scatter move-out and move-in dates so they do not all fall on Sept. 1.
Bologna said because he works in communications, he understands the value of a Twitter chat for a government office.
“It’s publicity and it draws attention, but it’s not a practical way for people to ask questions and expect serious answers,” he said. “It can give the office an idea of what people are talking about and interested in, which is valuable. But no one should expect substance in a Twitter chat.”
Jay Kelly, 34, of Dorchester, asked the mayor what the city can do to expand its world-class education beyond incoming college-aged students to children and adults. Walsh responded by saying Boston’s “new chief of education will work on connecting education across all age groups in the city.”
Kelly said he is impressed with Walsh’s communication with his constituents and advocates for the use of technology to hold public figures accountable.
“A benefit of access to the Internet is it gives the residents of the city some agency to keep track of results and push for more results in achieving their goals to help make the city a better place,” he said. “Twitter is a great forum for dialogue with elected officials. It’s a very public way to have conversations about the issues at hand,” he said.
BU students had varied opinions on Walsh’s use of social media to engage the college-aged population.
John Fox, a sophomore in the School of Education, said the mayor’s Twitter chat was a strong plan for connecting with students.
“In some cases, like talking about safety, it might be better to hold a public forum to have people speaking out loud,” Fox said. “But the upside with using social media is that more people can have access to these kinds of questions. More people can propose these questions, and it allows more people to access Marty Walsh.”
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Yanni Metaxas said Walsh’s interaction with college students through social media may be a ploy to increase political participation in their demographic.
“A lot of the students are always so focused on their studies, and they’re only living four years away from home, that a lot of them don’t even bother to vote in any election for the state where they go to school,” Metaxas said. “It’s a nice tactic to get your name out there and try to see what students are thinking.”
Regardless, Metaxas said he believes Walsh’s outreach to his constituents has a genuine foundation.
“Of course it’s a tactic,” he said. “But on top of it, I’m sure that he cares about what the students have to say, or else he probably wouldn’t take the time to do this.”
