There are many instances when social media informs, and even benefits the public. One instance that comes to mind is weather. Weather is a top-of-mind topic; something people are continually thinking about and discussing as it impacts all of us on a daily basis. And, in a breaking news situation, everyone wants and needs to know the latest developments as it may directly affect us or friends and family in all parts of the world.
Authoritative sources of weather-related news – the national weather service to local TV stations – have become more sophisticated in their use of social media to communicate with their constituents about weather-related news.
Channel 7 in Boston provides a daily tweet informing baseball fans what to expect during that evening’s game.
In addition, the National Weather Service provides a daily local forecast for Boston.
As we transition from one season to another (spring to summer in the US) and hurricane season is scheduled to begin in less than a month, user-generated content can be just as beneficial as the social media alerts provided by authoritative sources.
According to weather.com, the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was the first above-average season since 2012, producing 15 named storms, a total of 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes (category 3 or stronger).
Hurricane Matthew was one of the worst storms in 2016 reaching a category 5, devastating Haiti. User-generated content captured before, during, and after the event.
Matthew was officially declared a hurricane on Thursday, September 29.
Hurricane Matthew had the greatest impact on the southern coast of Haiti on Tuesday, October 4.
The rebuilding effort is ongoing.
All of the weather-related data could have been captured in a single social media stream creating a vehicle for telling the whole story of hurricane Matthew’s impact on Haiti, before, during, and after this devastating storm.
Following is an example of a social media stream from a recent winter storm in the US, March 2017. Storm Stella traversed up the east coast dumping large quantities of snow from the Carolinas to Maine. The stream combined safe, real-time, and relevant social media content from a variety a sources. People in the midst of the event as well as idle watchers were able to see the story as it unfolded and was told from multiple perspectives and social channels.
Click sign-up to register and create a FREE social media stream. In only minutes, you can include relevant and safe user-generated content on your website.