Social media is everywhere. From Facebook and Twitter to Pintrest and Snapchat, millions of people are communicating on these social networks daily. Weather has not escaped this social boom. Everywhere you look on these platforms you'll find people liking, sharing, and commenting on weather media like snowfall forecasts, blogs, photos and videos. For a meteorologist, all of this weather sharing is fantastic! You can build relationships with your fan base, get real time observations/pictures during storm situations, and instantly provide a weather update to your followers. For the most part, weather in social media is a beautiful tool, but sometimes things could go very wrong:
Empire News is a satirical website and published this map before the winter season. While this snowfall outlook may have worked for Massachusetts, places like Topeka, KS were actually 7.3 inches below normal.
Yes, it's true. Social media weather can occasionally go astray with some publishing crazy maps or forecasts just to bring in "likes" or followers. But what can you do to ensure you've received the proper information? First off, check out the source. Dig further into their page, visit their website, read through the "About Us" section. Basically find out who they are! Are they a reputable company? Are they meteorologists? Are they established for several years? All of these questions are good to ask yourself when researching a social media weather source. Next check into their posts. Do they just post occasional outlandish content, or are they actively producing content almost every day? Does the page like or respond to fan comments? If so, they are likely a more reliable social media weather source.
If you are not on social media looking for weather, give it a try! You'll be amazed at what you can learn, see and how easily you can engage with meteorologists and others in the weather community.
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