Weather news is fast finding its way into the mainstream media in India. In fact it has found different means to reach out to people. “Weather related information is no longer limited to traditional news channels but has become popular on social networking sites also ”, says Abhishek Gupta, a tech savvy engineering student.
“Well.. that’s true..people are curious and want to know what the rest of the world is thinking and especially during weather-related events. People tag, tweet or post weather conditions and the information is immediately displayed”, agrees Manav Singh Gahlaut, chief of Multimedia at Skymet Weather.
Weather has always been one of the most social of topics. Social media has played an integral part in the information dissemination of severe weather events and natural disasters, creating both positive and negative implications for its users.
News of Cyclone Phailin, one of the severest of cyclones in Odisha, that devastated life and property, began from Skymet Weather broadcast, but was soon spread even further through social media.
At the time of the year's biggest earthquake in Chile, the social media proved to be a valuable and quick source of information. People clung to Facebook and Twitter to share breaking news and ways to help those affected by the quake.
“It appears that social media is here to stay. With several positive aspects relating to weather, social media is fast becoming our new weather warning system”, added Manav.
However, working weather into social networking sites has its ups and downs. Using social media websites has some very good positive uses in weather applications, but there are some serious drawbacks too. Many false reports and unimportant weather posts by users can contaminate the current weather forecast, confusing many other readers. Therefore, misinformation spreading like fire becomes the deadly cons of the networking sites.
With Facebook and Twitter becoming our virtual reality, the future is not going to be anything like what we can fathom today.
To get latest updates on weather in India and for interesting weather reads, users could subscribe to Skymet Weather on Facebook and Twitter. Queries on weather are promptly answered by our weathermen.
