A Novel Approach to Social Media Guideline Design and Its Application to Automated Vehicle Events

Public perception of and attitudes towards automated vehicle (AV) technologies significantly influence the acceptance and adoption of AVs. Users’ perceptions are increasingly driven by media exposure. Prior studies have observed that major news events such as crashes and technology announcements influence user responses to AVs. Guiding users’ expectations and exposure to information through accessible media resources should lead to calibrated expectations and appropriate use of automation, ultimately leading to fewer safety incidents. We used a two-component analysis of (1) AV event-related tweets, through topic modeling and sentiment analysis, and (2) subject-matter expert interviews, through thematic analysis, to design basic guidelines for AV communication. The use of these guidelines should increase public knowledge of AV capabilities and aid in the proper calibration of public trust and acceptance of AVs.