The purpose of pronouns in Spanish signs

The choice between these forms in Philadelphia doesn't follow the traditional rules we all thought we knew. Spanish speakers used different forms based on the type of request they were making -- not how well they knew the person they were addressing.

Usted was used in Spanish signs in Philadelphia most often to "request" and "inform," while Tú was utilized more to "invite" and "persuade" readers.
Calculations based on observations of 250 signs around the city of Philadelphia and online spaces such as social media from different Hispanic organizations in the city.
Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-NDSource: Daniel Guarin Buitrago for Temple University.Get the dataDownload imageCreated with Datawrapper