And the CTA's first tweet is ...

November 01, 2011|By Tracy Swartz, RedEye

The CTA joined the Twitterverse on Tuesday morning.

At about 11 a.m., @CTA tweeted: "An official announcement from the CTA: Hello."

The same message was posted to the CTA's new Facebook page.

This is the transit agency's first official foray into social media. The CTA said it plans to tweet breaking news updates and connect with riders.

"We've long kept up with what people are saying about CTA on blogs and on Twitter, but haven't been a part of that conversation until now," CTA President Forrest Claypool said in a news release Monday. "These social media tools help bridge the gap in communication between the CTA and customers."