BeauDodson Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Some of us have accidentally built a large following via social media. It has almost become par (or even exceeded) the the number of people following local on-air meteorologists. It has been a learning process - how to use Twitter - how to use Facebook - how to use the different tools at our disposal. I have learned from conferences that it is important to share what we know. What works - what does not work - how can we improve communicating with the public during severe weather. I don't know how many social media "media" people we have on the forum - but I am guessing there are a few. We all use social media for different reasons. Some have personal accounts and some have fan pages. Some are using it to post storm chase information - others are using it to post storm reports - others are using it to bring public awareness to their communities. Some people have created pages just for severe weather warnings - they are automatically posted via some form of software. I thought I would start a thread to see if people had comments or suggestions on what works best for them. I am going to post some of the techniques that work for me - some of the software that I have found useful for bloggers (and Facebook). You may have some favorite tips or software of your own. I would be interested in hearing from others - what works for you - what software do you use that makes your life easier - how do you use Twitter - how are your local NWS offices utilizing social media? Up and coming changes? Software Social Safe - I use this to backup all of my social media. The only negative (and they are trying to work on this - you can not upload). You can back up your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ & Viadeo accounts to create a searchable, digital journal. It will back up your active friend list. This program backs up all of my fan pages - personal pages - other. http://www.socialsafe.net/ SnagIt (formally Jing). I found this program through a friend at the NWS. They used it for their severe weather briefings that are posted online. This program is the next best thing to apple pie It can capture video - images - allows you to write on images - it now allows you to make briefings that are longer than 5 minutes (Jing limited you to 5 minutes) - this is the ultimate screen capture tool. This software allows you to share in multiple avenues (social media, desktop, clipboard, powerpoint, on and on). http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html This is a screen capture of the software after I snagged an image TweetDeck - for following hashtags in an organized fashion. Easy to use. Easy to follow. http://www.tweetdeck.com/ Here is what mine looks like when operating Utilizing YouTube for the NWS If you like making PowerPoints then consider making one for the NWS to help educate your followers on how they can help. Post it on your YouTube Channel. This is one I put together about Twitter Facebook - the social media beast. Facebook continues to be a growing source for information. It is a bit scary that we have little or no control over Facebook. We can't subscribe to it - we can't pay for support - we can't pay to control how the Facebook pages are presented to the general public. Facebook could shut down tomorrow and we would lose all of the hard work that we have put into our pages. Facebook could remove your fan page with little or no warning. With that said... More and more people are using Facebook to gather information - to send information - to monitor severe weather or winter weather events. More of our local media is using Facebook to communicate with their viewers. It has become a big deal. In order to grow your pages and add fans - you need to be consistent. You need to be reliable. You need to control your page. Facebook is a great way to promote your local NWS office - programs they are offering the public Here is an example I have learned to make 3 hour threads for severe weather events. It makes it easier for everyone to follow along. It prevents 50 posts showing up on your page by individuals asking questions. If you keep everything in one thread then it is also easier to answer questions (see the questions). It also helps you to monitor severe weather reports from your followers. Once the 3 hour time frame is up - then start a new thread - close the previous thread by telling everyone "END OF THIS THREAD - SEE NEW THREAD ABOVE" Example of a 3 hour thread I have learned that it is useful to keep a notebook/word document on your desktop that has a template for what needs to be posted during severe weather events. Of course you can do the same for winter weather events. Some of the items I keep on my word document (waiting to be posted during an event) This first example I keep handy and actually post it on local media severe weather threads. As soon as they post a severe weather update then I post this - the NWS finds this useful. Examples: Hail Reports: The National Weather Service is monitoring for any hail reports. If you report hail please compare the hail size to COINS. The NWS asks that you not use the word "marble size" because marbles vary in size. Please use dime, penny, nickel, quarter, half dollar, golf-ball size. Please tell us the time of the hail and the county and city (general location with a city reference - example: 5 miles south of Benton, Illinois) - your hail reports and other severe weather reports are important and help in the warning process. Example 2: A WARNING means that severe weather is imminent or expected to occur shortly - your individual home may or may not be impacted - just because a warning is issued for your county does not mean you will experience severe weather. It does mean that you should take precautions to keep your family safe and secure until the storm passes. A severe thunderstorm warning means that a thunderstorm with 58 mph winds or greater - 1" hail (or larger) is expected to occur in or near the warned area. Remember that severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce tornadoes with little or no warning. A tornado warning means that a tornado is occurring or may occur at any moment - a tornado warning means to take shelter until the storm has safely passed your area. Again if you feel threatened by a storm then do not wait for a warning to be issued - take shelter immediately until the storm has safely passed your location. Example 3: Interactive RADARS: City View Interactive Radars: http://www.weatherob...ather-radar.htm Back up interactive radar: http://weather.weath...om/interactive/ Another back up radar: http://weather.weath.../latest/us.html National Weather Service web-sites - click your local area for watches/warnings: http://www.nws.noaa....zation.php#maps Example 4: Tornado Safety Videos Schools Homes Mobile Homes During a severe weather watch is is useful to post some of the above information - that way people can review their safety rules for severe weather. Promote your local NWS Office - promote your local media - inform your followers of other options that they have to gather severe weather information. Promote products that might be useful to your fans Control: I have found it useful to keep control of my page. If there are people that cause problems then message them and discuss the issue. If the problem continues then remove them or block them from your page. Set expectations by telling your followers/fans that you can't answer every question - or try to have the cut and paste answers handy for the questions that keep reappearing. The more you can educate your followers/fans the better off they will be and you will be. I am constantly looking for ways to better inform those who are looking for severe weather information. Don't reinvent the wheel. Utilize the tools that are already available. Encourage your followers to BECOME STORM SPOTTERS. I have had dozens of my followers take the spotter classes with online or through our local NWS office. That not only helps the NWS it also helps you. You will learn who to trust when they report something to you. Encourage your fans to use the spotter hotlines. I have also started adding followers to my GR radar - placefile. It takes some time - but it has been worth it. Twice in the last six weeks there was a tornado that passed within three blocks of two of my followers. I was able to gather useful information during the event for the NWS - because I knew where they lived. Example - I keep my Facebook followers in yellow (quick and easy). When they report severe weather I don't have to go back and ask them exactly where they live - I can just look on my radar screen. Of course it takes time to build trust with your followers in order for them to give you that type of information. Example: I also have found that some NWS Offices are starting YouTube pages. Only a few have been given permission - thus far. Hopefully more will be added. Norman, OK Office Page Weather Radio Promo and and Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KokomoWX Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I do agree social media is a great way to communicate. For me, I forecast for my community and try not to try to cover everything everywhere. What you shared above is excellent information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isohume Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I wish the NWS would get rid of FB. The amount of time and effort going into maintaining it, deleting funky posts, and keeping it fresh, etc is not worth the occasional good report we get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Rent Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I wish the NWS would get rid of FB. The amount of time and effort going into maintaining it, deleting funky posts, and keeping it fresh, etc is not worth the occasional good report we get. Sounds like a job for a Regional Facebook Manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isohume Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Sounds like a job for a Regional Facebook Manager. Lol...the regions don't need to be any bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phlwx Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 NWS would do better using Twitter than Facebook...just my opinion. I think given the way one can "control" information being sent to you via twitter (you don't have to retweet the bad tweets and misinformation, you can retweet good, solid info from trusted sources) would make it easier to use that than have to delete a bunch of crappy posts or feel obligated to respond to a bunch of IMBY questions. I don't think the obligation level to respond on twitter is as high as it is on Facebook...you can merely throw a graphic forecast of "how much for Philly" and refer everyone to that and not "respond" if you so desire. IEM bots that tweet out warnings for some of the NWS offices over twitter are great sources of info...if the NWS tweaked that (I don't need the HWO's, for starters) and than updated things every so often (doesn't have to be real time but 2-3 times per day plus a bot that throws out AFD's, warnings/advisories) it might be a good fit for the NWS in social media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezweather Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 For me, Word Press has helped me with what I want to blog on. We've got this site here and liveweatherblogs.com one. As for Facebook, well it can and sounds like a pain to weed through all those posts. But for me, I found Camtasia and Snagit are awesome.. Snagit is awesome and helps me so much with getting the graphics. Obviously, PowerPoint is great. I use that as well. Check out what I put together. I try to do Weather Pattern Review on Tuesdays and Model Trends on Thursdays. I really like how I got the flash videos to work. http://ezweather.com/myblog/ You can see what I did with the flash videos. So, there are some really nice tools out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Rent Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Facebook has a wider reach, just needs more attention to moderation. Its a double edged sword for sure. I wish we could decide how to communicate about severe weather..... here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Beau thanks for sharing. You certainly are a top read for me everyday and your attention to detail and organization is a model for many. Thank you for all the tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike2010 Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Good stuff , Beau. Well explained. Some tips on what not to do: #1 Post a million updates a day. Or post updates regarding dumb things. ("I just got done painting my nails" , etc.. ) Occasional light moments or humor are fine. #2 Never say 'Click Here'. or 'Look at my site'. It makes you look desperate, needy, and noobish. Just be vibrant , be cool & people will follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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