The impact of social media on storm chasing

[Ben Holcomb]

Given the additional context in your post after this sentence, I can only assume you are referring to COVID-19.

Yes. I don't believe we are very divergent in views though. I would like to see those responsible for that bioweapon face their victims and be brought to justice, whatever the definition of that is. Those that funded the lab are also responsible. I am sorry to hear about your wife and friend. I too know some people who succumbed as well as had vaccine side effects and had businesses and lives destroyed. All while we watched companies like walmart and amazon make huge inflows (trillions) and be allowed to remain open.

Anyway, I do not want to derail this off to that topic, since there was some really good points made about social media. This also is a really good illustration on how assumptions and an A vs B mentality can really disrupt and social media is the driver IMO. I used to notice a lot that if you ever mentioned a negative forecast aspect of a chase, you'd immediately get cast in a negative light. Forecasts are still mostly opinions I would say. I'm not a fan of southwest 850s down here in the southern plains. Does it work occasionally? 2013-05-20 would say "yes". This is part of that cancer I spoke about in my first post, and I think it's part of a much broader goal of dividing people on purpose.

Andy I don't know you, but I definitely was not trying to incite you or any others. It seemed like a good example to use since we all just experienced that time period.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Ben, agreed on that aspect of social media. there is a lot of evidence for it being used to manipulate opinions on pretty much all sides and on any and all issues, and as a consequence, affect much more real world things that impact us all. There are articles on how one person can set up a farm of 50 cheap cellphones and get anything he wants to the front page of Reddit, complete with a bevy of upvoted comments that appear at the top. An organic user doesn’t stand a chance to be heard and will be downvoted to oblivion if he posts anything to disagree. If one guy in an apartment can do that, think of what governments and corporations can do. I’ve come to realize pretty much anything that comes from a person you don’t know in real life is suspect on any social media. Storm chasing likely has some of that happening. I feel like if that somehow was more commonly known, Stormtrack would be booming overnight. One can hope.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

Google search results are absolutely manipulated as well. Back in 2020 you could not find the video from Tulsi Gabbard talking about Kamala Harris during the debate. I did this one specifically. Any USA IP would not give you the video. I got on a VPN with a German IP and it was the first result on Google. This goes back to Brett's comment about 2003 Internet being much better. We are captured and most don't even know it.

 

[Jeff Wright]

I still go to YouTube in that there may be good tornado footage of a unique nature, and Weather Channel refuses to do good year-end wrap-up footage.

 

[Jamie H]

For an alternative to social media, it would be great if people joined the Discord. It would be great for something Stormtrack linked to be the place to go, especially as a compliment to the plans for live coverage mooted here. Perhaps Stormtrack of the future could feature some interlinked blog-style sections where people's updates can be archived too?

Also, it would be nice if we didn't have to veer off into Covid-conspiracy stuff. Millions died and I'm not sure that has any relevance here.

 

[gdlewen]

For an alternative to social media, it would be great if people joined the Discord. It would be great for something Stormtrack linked to be the place to go, especially as a compliment to the plans for live coverage mooted here. Perhaps Stormtrack of the future could feature some interlinked blog-style sections where people's updates can be archived too?

Also, it would be nice if we didn't have to veer off into Covid-conspiracy stuff. Millions died and I'm not sure that has any relevance here.

I agree here: Discord has its place, and as a social media platform is really not well-suited to do the things that I think ST can do well: detailed chase reports, questions for the experts, thoughtful discussions, etc. The signal-to-noise ratio on ST is pretty high* compared to your typical social media outlet, and that's why I am here.

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* Although I am suddenly acutely aware of the fact that I might be lowering it with my posts...oh well.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Signal-to-noise historically has been a concern for forums, but in my opinion, social media's is so poor that even a marginally-moderated forum is leaps and bounds more tolerable by comparison. All of the concerns cited by people who abandoned Stormtrack and WX-CHASE years ago are present to a much greater degree and intensity on social media. I think it's the "frog in a pot of boiling water" effect that blinds many on social media to the fact that they now tolerate the same things and worse by being exclusively on those sites.

That said, I haven't seen much on this forum lately that I'd call problematic noise. I think every bit of activity helps right now, especially anything relevant to weather and chasing.

 

[Mark Gressman Jr]

I think the impact of social media on chasing is what you make of it. The beauty of storm chasing is that you can go out and enjoy a storm, and social media isn't a requirement for it to be enjoyable. I've always been of the opinion that simpler is usually better, and once keeping up with everyone else becomes a chore, it takes the fun out of most activities. I'm just glade to see a return of some of the chasing veterans to this site, and I think there will be a revival here once more and more people become disillusioned with the dumpster fire that is social media.

 

[Dan Robinson]

From what I can discern, there are two primary reasons that chasers (from veterans and newcomers alike) choose to use social media over Stormtrack.

1.) Audience and reach. Even in Stormtrack's heydey in the 2000s, posting a good photo would result in it being seen by maybe 2,000 people total, mostly within the chasing community. The best-case scenario was when a major media outlet or site like Digg or Fark would link to a thread and send 50,000-80,000 visitors here. Contrast that with social media, where the audience goes well beyond the weather community, can easily reach the millions and be seen by pretty much every figure in the weather world including the NWS and local/national TV celebrities including Jim Cantore, James Spann and the like.

My thoughts: No one likes taking the time to post something, then get no views or feedback on it. Talking to yourself gets tiring very fast for most people. Unfortunately, that's become the norm here. But it's a feedback loop: many avoid ST due to the inactivity, but the inactivity comes from everyone like them avoiding it!

2.) Today's mainstream storm chasing culture is at odds with most of ST's core long-timers. I see this as Stormtrack's biggest challenge. Let's face it, the vast majority of new chasers who started after 2008 were inspired not by the likes of Hoadley, Marshall, Doswell or Bluestien. Not by the NOVA special or even Twister. No, their icon is Reed Timmer. He's their introduction into the chasing hobby. They imitate him, look up to him and want to live his adventures. Chasing since 2008 has basically been Timmer's world. The rest of us are outside of it and left behind. And most of us old timers, understandably, simply loathe everything about that, won't tolerate any of it and are openly hostile to everyone in that realm. I'm not taking sides and saying who's right or wrong. I understand (at least I think I do) where both sides are coming from. There are legitimate safety issues at play. But you can't be hostile to what's become the mainstream of storm chasing and expect any of those people to ever come here, feel welcome here and stay around - and ultimately be influenced at all. Until we figure out how those two realms can coexist in the same place here, Stormtrack will never stand a chance. That's the other strike that social media has against ST. Those two realms *do* coexist there. Why that's the case is a question above my pay grade.

One practical compromise that might be considered: I think some of the legacy rules of being heavy-handedly stringent on TA threads, while a good thing in ST's heydey, might be more harmful now in a "rebuilding' era. While flames, spam, one-word "cool", "sweet", "wow" posts and similar detritus should of course be controlled, the fact is that in the short term, most every bit of engagement and activity helps ST. Engagement is what drives social media. We rightly worry about us old timers' past stated intolerance for those things, but as I said before, we tolerate far more on social media now. How much worse could a few less-than-academic forecast posts on Stormtrack be?

Conclusion: Chasers use social media because they feel they're getting something out of it. Even if it's just a dopamine hit that blinds them to the realities of a manipulative system designed to exploit them at every turn. Stormtrack needs to offer tangible value that gives them a reason to come here. Doing this successfully without sacrificing any core values will be a challenge, as it means attracting a mainstream that is in many ways at odds with what storm chasing was for many of us when we started. Is it possible?

 

[Jamie H]

Really agree on that Dan. I only post on certain topics a to ensure I keep within the site rules. If it was relaxed a little, say being able to put up an event thread a little more loosely, might help kick off discussion?

 

[Jason N]

I like the above take from Dan. it's not wrong, it's a reality of sorts. Like Boomers Vs. Gen Z, one group will always consider the lesser experienced causing problems. There is truth to it!, cause they do. My guess is, when Boomers were kids, their grandparents were saying, "You Boomers don't know how good you have it".

So, I see ST as, sometimes to a fault, much more of an academic institution. I also see it as a place to go to get the access to more educated, longer term institutional knowledge, which I personally like. As much personal experience as I have, others, like Jeff Duda, Adlyons, who are so well indoctrinated into the deeper science that I don't know, I have access to if I ask a question. Out in the other half of the social media world, you're not "always" going to get that. So in one sense, I am glad this community is smaller.

if it's about getting more people to join ST, I might recommend that the threads are segmented into more professional with more stringent rules, and maybe there are others that are less so, like maybe create a "Weather Lounge" area where topics and threads have less stringent oversite on comments and materials, but they still all have to be weather related. Humor is important. I would also recommend that maybe ST considers its own version, through API and whatever other techniques available, to produce a live track/analysis map (the current live chasers map doesn't work and I don't know if its ST sourced or pulling from some other site), for its own community. if it looks special, is easy to use, people will want to join, and with a onetime access fee to get access to maps, live tracks, specialized maps, radars and analysis. etc. and maybe, it could turn into a ST/citizen science project kind of thing?

 

[Warren Faidley]

The majority of fans on social media enjoy the craziness and high risk. Unfortunately, they want to see a circus, along with clowns doing death defying stunts near severe weather. Just watch the live feeds during high end events and read the comments. There is hyper-excitement when a chaser's feed goes down as people speculate the chaser was killed. It's like fans watching a car race for the horrific wrecks. People totally ignore sanity in favor of a good show. No generation of chasers should accept this. Is this what we want ST to become?

Having been part of the Veteran chasing world (from 1987) and the modern chase world, I have to kindly disagree with the analogy that most people who chased storms prior to 2008 are somehow "loathing" about any specific individual or chasing philosophy. I'm sure some people do, but I have many friends and fellow chasers from the "modern" chasing world who feel the exact same way. As I said before, the lack of discontent on social media towards the idiot chasing clowns is not because people don't care now days, it's because they don't want to be mauled by the fanboy protection society. Social media allows morons from all walks of life to succeed because of this flaw and the lack of moderators.

It does not matter if you were chasing in the 1980's or today, everyone pursuing storms should do so responsibly. Respect for other drivers and chasers transcends generations. Amazingly, chasing is still conducted on PUBLIC roads, not on private, social media highways, reserved for a privileged few. It's still illegal to run stops signs, pass over double yellow lines, stopping in travel lanes, excessive speeding, failure to yield, etc. Chasers have (and will) die because some chasers think they are above the law. Just because you want to succeed on social media is no excuse.

 

[gdlewen]

if it's about getting more people to join ST, I might recommend that the threads are segmented into more professional with more stringent rules, and maybe there are others that are less so, like maybe create a "Weather Lounge" area where topics and threads have less stringent oversite on comments and materials, but they still all have to be weather related

I think we already this segmented approach on ST Discord. They have moderator-assigned roles with locked channels to prevent--I don't know how to say this without annoying someone--"the unqualified" from participating in chaser/met-student/met-professional channels.

As long as we police ourselves and abide by the rules, I really prefer the more open environment we have here on StormTrack the Forum.

(Sure, we do display our humanity and get a wee bit rowdy from time to time, but it's nothing like what's out there in the wild.)

 

[Jason N]

(Sure, we do display our humanity and get a wee bit rowdy from time to time, but it's nothing like what's out there in the wild.)

I think that's a good thing and healthy to a community that sometimes might be considered "stuffy" introverted nerds with complex's, lol . I appreciate the intelligence! .. but let's have a steak and a beer and laugh it up to. So it's good you've done that.

 

[Jonathan Scrogham]

I think we already this segmented approach on ST Discord. They have moderator-assigned roles with locked channels to prevent--I don't know how to say this without annoying someone--"the unqualified" from participating in chaser/met-student/met-professional channels.

As long as we police ourselves and abide by the rules, I really prefer the more open environment we have here on StormTrack the Forum.

(Sure, we do display our humanity and get a wee bit rowdy from time to time, but it's nothing like what's out there in the wild.)

As an “unqualified” person, I am not at all annoyed or offended in any way. I enjoy simply watching the conversations between seasoned chasers and mets and absorbing some of the information I see there to make me more knowledgeable. That’s another great thing about these forums, you don’t have a bunch of people throw a bunch of fancy terminology around without actually knowing its meaning. I try to only post in threads not involving more of the advanced sciences.