WDTD/OLCO Training: Using Social Media to Empower the Public

The National Weather Service has been utilizing social media to engage partners, and the public since 2011. The Warning Decision Training Division (WDTD) has created a series of training modules which address many of the best practices of using social media. Benefits of using the Facebook and Twitter platforms to support risk communication strategies for significant events have been identified in recent NWS service assessments. Best practices related to these benefits have been suggested by social science research, and have been shown operationally by WFO forecasters. The goal of the training is to help forecasters learn social media best practices and implement them into operations. The training is intended to create a foundation upon which all offices can build to improve their social media strategies and increase the consistency of these services provided nationwide.