Accountability On Social Media

Whether you’re strolling through the muck of linked political articles & arguments, people moaning and groaning about how bad their life is on Facebook, or joining the rest of us with a bit more enlightened information on twitter & Google+, the lack of accountability on social media is alarming.  This is especially true when it comes to the weather field.

My view of social media has both its highs and lows.  The good news is everyone can seemingly become a kid again, make-believing they’re “professionals” in their field of choice which they now promote themselves through via social media.  The bad that comes along with that is there is often no accountability.  The number of “experts” in the field of meteorology is seemingly growing at an exponential rate.  No one told me, but apparently since social media came about, you don’t need a degree to be a meteorologist or produce in-depth forecasts.

The amount of weather “BS” and garbage that is spewed throughout social media is quite baffling.  From polar vortex pandemics and winter outlooks (number of heavy snows included), to forecasting severe weather “months in advance,” it has become quite comical and sad to see how some utilize the latest in communication technology.

We have middle/high school kids and everyday joes blasting absurd amounts of money to gain followers.  Although I have no problem with kids gaining experience, shouldn’t there be something to clarify who you’re getting your forecast/weather info from?  An alarming number of these kids refer to themselves as “Meteorologist John Doe” or “Dr. Jane Doe.”  This shouldn’t be tolerated, as it presents a false advertisement that clouds up the readers perception to who they are actually getting their information from.

Take a glance at some of the bios on twitter and you’ll come across a lot of phonies.  I can name you several individuals that claim to have a “B.S. in Meteorology,” when in fact they don’t.  Take Western Kentucky University for example.  The accredited B.S. Meteorology degree wasn’t even offered at WKU until 2008, with the first graduating class (which I was proudly a part of) not making it out into the real world until 2010.  The number of people who graduated from WKU pre-2010 and claim to have a B.S. in Meteorology is larger than you think.  I only mention this because I’ve experienced it first hand…more times than one.

Social media has also brought to light the arrogance and ego of individuals and organizations.  I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve witnessed individual and company/organization accounts blatantly rip images and content from other’s tweets and post them under their own account.  If you’re lucky, they’ll include a “via @twittername” or “h/t  @twittername” in their tweet, giving credit to said account that originally posted the information.  If you’re one of these people (you folks know who you are), here’s an idea…retweet the damn tweet from the original account that posted it to begin with.  Stop using it for your own benefit, assholes.

I don’t have the answers to how we fix this problem, however, I suggest we start working on solutions.  Perhaps we provide some kind of ‘seal’ that would clarify what the difference is?  Maybe education is the biggest thing, and it’s up to us to train those up and coming in the weather field how to be responsible and accountable.  Regardless, I think we can all agree, something needs to be done.