twitter taught us what we knew all along

our values weren't built on any one social media domain. we've simply lived them here.

I don’t know what will happen with Twitter.

I will start by saying our Twitter handles remain active. We’re still meming and messaging, notifying and replying, blue check and all—whatever it’s worth for as long as it lasts.

Most recently a surge of rumors has put many tweeters in panic mode across the platform, wondering what-next and where-to and whatnot, leading to Twitter threads of gratitude for communities grown and farewells to others like a high-school yearbook, “Keep in touch” and “Always remember yous” with their inferences that things will never really be anywhere what they once were there.

Whatever the future, it’s worth reflecting on the past.

As a utility, we joined Twitter around 2010, and stay there because it has been a place our customers convene. A platform where we knew we could be reachable and responsive, share and be aware. That hasn’t changed.

But so much of the social media landscape has. Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn have all experienced shifts in users and content. New platforms like TikTok and BeReal have emerged. Others will do the same. And as we always have as a utility, we’ll explore and continue to be present on social media where it makes sense for our mission, our values, and our customers.

Yet no platform we manage to date has had the same engagement as that on Twitter. The tone, the balance of the technical and trivial, its timeliness and trendiness. Our voice was suited for and grown within the Twitter community in a way that was and still is unique.

People have asked, “What are you going to do, @neorsd?” with this unknown Twitter future.

The answer: “We’re going to keep serving customers.”

Treating hundreds of millions of gallons of water every day. Managing hundreds of miles of stream network. Making repairs, building tunnels, solving problems. All the things we’ve done before social media, during social media, and long after social media. Because that’s why we exist.

Our mission and values weren’t established on the Twitter domain. We bring our mission and values to the platform—whichever it may be—where they can be seen, shared, and experienced.

Our small but engaged bird-app following came out of a recognition that we as a tweeting utility cared about people. We have a very defined service area, but a sense of humanity isn’t confined to a regional border. So why not be human? That’s what we embraced. We laugh, we listen, we explore, we emote. We wanted to be relevant. But what emerged was a relationship.

We didn’t first realize that human connections matter in 2010 and following. We’d always known it. Our work lived it. Our values reflected it. Twitter simply emerged as the messenger of the moment, however long.

Social media is but a sliver of our communications work. Yes, its ripples reach many beyond our customer base. But for 50 years we’ve embraced creative ways to engage customers because we need to be reachable, responsive, and relevant.

That will keep happening, no matter which app is on your home screen. That’s our commitment to our customers.

And if you aren’t a customer, your connections have mattered, too, because heightened awareness of essential services has value everywhere.

Thank you for connecting with us wherever you are. Tweeting for now, but treating always.