Over the weekend, I perused the old Facebook because I had a minute or two to spare. Low and behold, a TV station in a neighboring television market posted a map full of blue, showing a chance of snow this weekend. I didn’t even see how many shares it had because I rolled my eyes so swiftly, I didn’t even stop my scroll.
I didn’t stop my Facebook-scroll because this was the same station that had snow in the forecast for Halloween. (If you remember, it was unseasonably warm.)
So, that’s the big reason I felt the need to get up on my soap box this Monday morning. Here’s the takeaway:
You’ve heard the saying “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet,” right? This also applies to social media and weather. Some Meteorologists who crave “likes and shares” more than increasing their credibility, post weather graphics and forecasts that have a very small possibility of coming true. A social media expert will find that more likes and shares come from the telling of a weather story. If you can begin talking about the chance of snow and see it through to fruition, people will find more value in the message.
And occasionally, those guys will be right. I will admit that sometimes I scratch my head with some forecasts. But I promise to you that I will always make sure I have a reasonable level of confidence before I throw something on the internet.
Before you “like and share.” Do you really want to give your friends bad information?
