Mentions of Dublin Bus on social media often strike irate and despairing tones, but the public transport company now appears to be increasing its efforts to find out exactly how that online conversation is going. It has put a "social and media monitoring" support system contract out to public tender, seeking a contractor that will help it keep track of "online brand mentions" for a period of three years.

On its website, the Dublin Bus social media team says it endeavours “to respond to all relevant posts and comments within one hour”, adding that its response times are continually monitored.

But its Dublin Bus News accounts on Twitter and Facebook, which are staffed from 7am to 7pm, are typically inundated with complaints from transport users waiting for buses that are either much-delayed or simply disappear from its real-time passenger information (RTPI) screens.

Dublin Bus last year hired creative agency Rothco to devise an online campaign called the Mad Dash Home, featuring Baz and Nancy Ashmawy, which was designed to bring customers “behind-the-scenes” at its control centre.