Which is better for hurricanes: Social Media or Forums

[funster]

Which is better for tracking hurricanes: Social Media or Forums?

I think Twitter is best because you get updates instantly from important sources and news organizations. There are a lot tweeting about hurricanes right now. Facebook and Myspace are somewhat useful. Forums are good for some discussion but really Twitter gets info to you the fastest of anywhere.

Forums are really old and pretty much outdated by new technologies like Twitter but a few people still like them.

What do you think?

[brunota2003]

#1: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
#2: http://www.nws.noaa.gov
#3: Storm2K

[cycloneye]

Hands down,Storm2k

[GoGoGop]

Before there is a storm i sometimes read forums like storm2k to see if anything is about to pop. Once there is a storm Twitter is easier because you can get news updates and NHC updates right on Twitter and avoid all the pointless speculation that goes on in web forums. You can get the same information using FriendFeed too. It is a huge time saver.

[AdamFirst]

Twitter is better on a personal level...evacuees/victims of storms can Tweet messages about how they're doing or what happened to their area

Twitter is gaining ground in terms of news-worthiness...especially with the Iranian election uprising, but I wouldn't prefer it over a forum, since Twitter can't support images and messages longert than 140 characters.

[Category 5]

National Hurricane Center, no ifs, ands or buts, there is no compitition as far as I'm concerned.

[lrak]

This place is an excellent source, and I don't watch TV, I do watch blueray movies though, so the internet is were I get most of my daily information for just about everything. I don't need a mediatard to inform, umm...lecture me of my impending doom.

[jfennell]

I follow some twitters including

http://twitter.com/hurricanes
http://twitter.com/globalwarming
http://twitter.com/science
http://twitter.com/stormpulse

they give you the NHC and other infos but forums are still useful and fun to read

It looks like someone already took the Storm2k twitter name
http://twitter.com/storm2k

[Agua]

This forum. Period. You get pro met in depth analysis of the steering elements on a constant basis, from a large number of mets, continual reanalysis as additional data is gathered, fresh links to new analyses and data on other sites ... Nothing like it for a 1 stop hurricane source.

[Sanibel]

Q'est que c'est "Twitter"???


Storm2k

[Hurricanevideo]

S2K and other websites are great for the weather nuts like all of us that surf these sites everyday, but Twitter is great for the general public, especially when a storm becomes a hot trend on Twitter. Information would get around fairly fast.

Find me Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/weatherzine

Jeff Gammons
http://www.weatherzine.net

[artist]

there is no way twitter could ever compete with the in depth analysis that s2k provides. Twitter will be doing nothing but repeating what they read here or the NHC anyway. Thus it will be later than if you were here or getting a report form the NHC.

[Jinkers]

I always go to the NHC first, then here, a lot of people give good information here when I need to know about a storm.

[x-y-no]

Maybe it's because I'm an old fart, but I don't find twitter anywhere near as useful as a well organized and moderated forum. In a forum, you can get just as up-to-date information but it can be organized in threads like we do here - model discussions, emergency information, advisories, recon data, recon analysis etc. with separate threads for each storm so that one doesn't have to wade through a flood of unrelated stuff to get the information one needs.

[CajunMama]

Storm2k hands down! You can find info from so many sites here!

[TYNI]

Storm2K... many people jump on the potential active weather, instead of just reporting it is now in a warning stage... and the pro mets provide great insight into how development and tracks are shaping up, almost real time, if not in real time...

[JonathanBelles]

S2k is definitely #1 in my mind, although I will be using twitter this year more than before for info. All of the information comes to this forum in a much easier to find way, but when it comes to personal reports, you cannot beat twitter.

[OpieStorm]

Forums are obviously extremely helpful when it comes to a hurricane being out there, but at the same time they can be extremely misleading. I think you always first trust the official outlets like NHC, local authorities etc. Take what you see on the forums into consideration but don't live or die by it. For example if weather models posted on the forums are suggesting a landfall further towards your city but the official track is away from your city don't panic over it but just take it into consideration, that way if the official track does change you already had it in mind and have a plan. Like I said, this place can literally be a lifesaver when it comes to a threat approaching, but at the same time you have to differentiate between what's valid and what's crap.

[southerngale]

Storm2k... for many of the reasons mentioned above. Plus, you get to know people on here and not only care about how storms can affect you, but other members as well. We're here for each other. I can't even imagine Hurricane Season without s2k!

[DanKellFla]

#1: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
#2: http://www.nws.noaa.gov
#3: Storm2K

I concur.
Twitter is fine between family members for status checks. Otherwise, you can't beat those three.