Social Media: Science, Art, and Ethics for the Broadcast Meteorologist Linking Information to Society

The broadcast meteorologist - audience interaction using a wide variety of social media have created a “virtual weather room”. The scope of social media and the impact is staggering. There are applications for sharing videos, pictures, professional resume, short text messages, fast disappearing photos and combinations of all the above. Some of the current most popular social media applications are: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. (Kallas 2017) The current dynamic environment of social media is a place for communicating severe weather warnings, general forecasts and the science of meteorology. It is also a tool to advertise one’s capabilities and that of your company, and to attract users to website with embedded advertising. Social media is so important in communicating meteorological information that the World Meteorological Organization has issued guidelines for its use by national meteorological and hydrological services. (Gill and Kreft, 2012) as well as the American Meteorological Society (AMS 2017).

Many news outlets encourage or even require their on-air broadcast meteorologists to use social media to help gather information and spread the word about their stories. As meteorologists using Facebook and Twitter, this creates a brand for the talent, and in turn, helps with eventual viewership on television. Since there is now an explosion of social media use, news organizations are scrambling to keep pace with the evolution of digital media. With the massive influx of social media users in our society, there is an added responsibility for Broadcast Meteorologists to inform the public of inclement weather on this platform. (Deleon 2014). Management at television stations across the country know it has now become the responsibility of such personalities to relay that information on the social media platform. This is often the fastest way to convey the dangers of the weather. The message often comes across fastest to the public, since 77% of Americans own a smart phone (Pew Research Center, 2018) to immediately receive these results. This has now become a part of a Broadcast Meteorologist job. Their role is not only on television, but on our handheld screens as the public stays informed on a continual basis. The effort is so great in television newsrooms across the country, it is often a requirement for the weather experts at each station.

Besides the technical science content there is another science to social media. The broadcast meteorologist must know their audience, target market demographics, platforms they use and platform characteristic and constraints. One must also know audience viewing characteristics, attention span, topics of interest and their diurnal, weekly and seasonal timing interest.

For broadcast meteorologists, there is a communication art to social media. Know how to formulate the information textual graphic and photographic so that the audience will view it and engage and be drawn to station websites. This includes the composition of headlines/lead lines, and the use of links (@ and #)

The next important aspect of broadcast media social media is ethics. One must know how to handle trolls, adversarial comments, personal attacks and flaming while remaining professional and authoritative.

Social media continues to permeate our lives. Broadcast meteorologists are embracing it. It is used to disseminate forecasts, hazard warnings, and cultivate a personal following and enhance TV stations reputation and potential. Understanding and using the multiple levels of meteorology and communications part of this media is key to the overall enterprise success. This presentation will explore the science of social media for Broadcast Meteorologists and how it can be used to link forecasts to societal needs while protecting the reputation of the meteorologist.

Further Reading

Deleon, K.: 2014, Getting Social: In What Ways Has the Advent of Facebook and Twitter Changed the Way Television Journalists Do Their Jobs, in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Communication Arts, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas

Kallas, P.: 2017, Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites and Apps, updated September 5, 2017, DreamGrow

Assessed September 19, 2017

https://www.dreamgrow.com/top-15-most-popular-social-networking-sites/

Gill, J. and P. Kreft: 2012, Guidelines on the Strategies for Use of Social Media by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, World Meteorological Organization, WMO-No. 1086, p. 12

Best Practices for Publicly Sharing Weather Information Via Social Media, A Best Practice Statement of the American Meteorological Society, Adopted by the AMS Council 22 January 2017, Boston, Massachusetts

Accessed January 28, 2019

https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/about-ams/ams-statements/statements-of-the-ams-in-force/best-practices-for-publicly-sharing-weather-information-via-social-media/

Mobile Fact Sheet, 2018: Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C.

Accessed February 14, 2019

http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/