NOUS41 KWBC DDHHMM
PNSWSH
 
Public Information Statement, Comment Request
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC
1123 AM EDT Wed May 23 2012
 
TO:      Subscribers:
         -Family of Services
         -NOAA Weather Wire Service
         -Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
         -NOAAPORT
         Other NWS Partners, Users, And Employees
 
FROM:    Iftikhar Jamil, NWS Chief Information Officer
         David B. Caldwell, Director, NWS Office of Climate,
          Water, and Weather Services
 
SUBJECT: Soliciting Public Comments Through December 31, 2012
         On Experimental Twitter Feeds 
 
The NWS is currently seeking comments on provision of 
environmental information via experimental Twitter feeds.  NWS is 
exploring use of Twitter to provide microblogging services.  
Twitter is a commonly used social networking service that allows 
participants to share information with other users.  
Microblogging services like Twitter serve as an important source 
of real-time news updates.  The short nature of updates allows 
users to post news items quickly, reaching their audience in 
seconds. Because microblogging services are two-way, readers of 
posts can reply to posts with various responses, such as a 
weather report with location, time and images/videos.  For the 
NWS, aggregate analysis of this data provides information on 
storm evolution, and partner/public perceptions and response.  
Use of Twitter will provide a complementary means to disseminate 
important information about hazardous weather conditions.  The 
posts will also be used for public outreach and education and to 
direct users to official NWS Web sites. 
 	
Experimental Twitter accounts are available at this time for the 
following NWS offices:
 
NWS Norman OK - @NWSNorman 
NWS LMRFC (Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center)- @NWS_LMRFC 
NWS Pleasant Hill MO - @NWSKansasCity 
NWS Salt Lake City UT - @NWSSaltLakeCity 
NWS Charleston SC - @NWSCharlestonSC 
NWS Western Region - @NWS_Western_US 
NWS Honolulu HI - @NWSHonolulu 
NHC Atlantic / NHC Pacific - The National Hurricane Center will 
run 2 accounts, basin specific - @NHC_Atlantic, @NHC_Pacific
 
It is NWS’s intent to implement Twitter accounts for all NWS 
offices. New accounts will be added gradually throughout the 
comment/review period.  A current listing of accounts may be 
found at http://nws.noaa.gov/socialmedia/ .
 
Experimental Twitter posts will serve as a supplemental channel 
to disseminate environmental information. Availability of this 
service is subject to constraints of Twitter service availability 
and to availability of users’ internet service.  Users should not 
rely on this service as the primary means of receiving 
alerts/warnings of hazardous weather. NWS alerts/warnings are 
available on NOAA Weather Radio and on our official 
website: http://www.weather.gov/.  Responses to users’ posts are 
made on a time-available basis and may be limited, especially 
during periods of severe weather.
 
Additional information on the experimental use of Twitter may be 
found at:
 
  http://products.weather.gov/PDD/twitter_sdd.pdf
 
Users must have valid Twitter accounts to view or post Twitter 
content.  Information on Twitter can be found at:
 
  http://www.twitter.com/
 
Comments on this experimental service may be provided through 
December 31, 2012 at:
 
  http://www.weather.gov/survey/nws-survey.php?code=twitter
 
 
Disclaimers regarding NWS use of social media services can be 
found at:
 
  http://www.weather.gov/disclaimer.php
  http://www.weather.gov/credits.php#socialmedia
 
 
If you have comments or questions regarding this Public 
Information Statement, please contact:
 
  Ronald Jones
  National Weather Service
  Silver Spring Maryland 20910
  301-713-1381 x 130
  ronald.c.jones@noaa.gov
 
National Public Information Statements are online at:
 
  http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm
 
$$