Sunday, March 29, 2015

NWS Office Social Interactions

** Update: 6 Historical Facebook Likes maps at the bottom of this blog post **

Ever wondered how the various National Weather Service Offices around the country differ in terms of their social interactions? Periodically during the previous two years, I systematically counted the number of Facebook Likes and Twitter followers for each NWS Office around the country. My jury-rigged system allows me to do the tallies in about an hour or so (the mapping part actually takes longer). These maps represent the latest update of this project.

The following maps represent social media interactions as determined on March 28, 2015. There are two Facebook maps and two Twitter maps. In each section, there is a raw number of interactions and a rate (per 100,000 population) of interactions. In the case of Alaska, there are three NWS Offices but a single, shared Facebook page. However, each office has its own Twitter feed and there is a statewide feed. For this analysis, the Alaska Twitter feeds were combined into a single number so that a comparison with Facebook Likes can be made. The final section shows some comparative relationships between Facebook and Twitter interactions.

Facebook:

Figure 1. Raw number of Facebook Likes for each NWS office on March 28, 2015. Each label represent a rank from 1 (most) to 118 (least).

Figure 2. Rate of Facebook Likes per 100,000 people for each NWS office on March 28, 2015. Each label represent a rank from 1 (most) to 118 (least).

Twitter:
Figure 3. Raw number of Twitter Followers for each NWS office on March 28, 2015. Each label represent a rank from 1 (most) to 118 (least).

Figure 4. Rate of Twitter Followers per 100,000 people for each NWS office on March 28, 2015. Each label represent a rank from 1 (most) to 118 (least).

Comparison:

Figure 5. Ratio of Facebook Likes to Twitter Followers. Labels represent the ratio.


Figure 6. Scatter plot of Facebook Likes versus Twitter Followers.


WFONameFB LikesTwitter FollowersFB RankTwitter Rank
ABRAberdeen65242693105101
AKAlaska38075132981511
ALYAlbany2439250112760
ABQAlbuquerque758944539565
AMAAmarillo3450156221653
EWXAustin/San Antonio979862737347
LWXBaltimore/Washington3423391981722
BYZBillings11756269558100
BGMBinghamton763735935250
BMXBirmingham7023014500610
BISBismarck15850260446102
RNKBlacksburg2406050372957
BOIBoise6858311510193
BOXBoston5479130200102
BROBrownsville1304431605589
BUFBuffalo991369987241
BTVBurlington1783450214259
CARCaribou18136200441114
RLXCharleston (SC)2457579872632
CHSCharleston (WV)6518436710667
CYSCheyenne7869241392107
LOTChicago749741600036
CLECleveland1288552015656
CAEColumbia931532277788
CRPCorpus Christi6633326910386
FWDDallas/Fort Worth721422380043
DVNDavenport/Quad Cities851336088376
BOUDenver/Boulder1113889956524
DMXDes Moines2556983772430
DTXDetroit/Pontiac1011947427163
DDCDodge City734932499787
DLHDuluth7609178094117
EPZEl Paso4550362411575
LKNElko53441961112115
EKAEureka9176254479105
FGZFlagstaff847150308458
APXGaylord8218240386108
GGWGlasgow8134214888111
GLDGoodland5103284111397
FGFGrand Forks7843256793103
GJTGrand Junction38601854117116
GRRGrand Rapids1110643046668
GYXGray/Portland1165539926073
TFXGreat Falls6243271110899
GRBGreen Bay5703329311085
GSPGreenville-Spartanburg1371644695464
GIDHastings1429135485277
HFOHonolulu1445470555039
HGXHouston/Galveston936264737544
HUNHuntsville2224089593225
INDIndianapolis16429131004512
JKLJackson (KY)1158033356284
JANJackson (MS)6839511200718
JAXJacksonville3221833442283
EAXKansas City/Pleasant Hill704531960055
KEYKey West1830863434045
ARXLa Crosse935834337680
LCHLake Charles975327757498
VEFLas Vegas872368118242
ILXLincoln1998553363555
LOXLos Angeles/Oxnard15457125004913
LMKLouisville1759277344334
LUBLubbock6410438110766
MQTMarquette1437135265178
MFRMedford8910233081109
MLBMelbourne6962406010071
MEGMemphis2111685393427
MFLMiami13165104002120
MAFMidland/Odessa842028698596
MKXMilwaukee/Sullivan1868042193969
MPXMinneapolis/Twin Cities19172116003817
MSOMissoula5466289111195
MOBMobile/Pensacola19633120003616
MRXMorristown/Knoxville1705833974481
PHIMount Holly/Philadelphia620371600087
OHXNashville44462121001115
LIXNew Orleans/Baton Rouge2528960302549
OKXNew York4267122600124
MHXNewport/Morehead City9141243880106
OUNNorman/Oklahoma City1370984310011
LZKNorth Little Rock586311590098
LBFNorth Platte6749304510294
IWXNorthern Indiana3407485111829
OAXOmaha/Valley1162473156136
PAHPaducah4056583651431
FFCPeachtree City/Atlanta2432091372823
PDTPendleton7007208399113
PSRPhoenix706174699835
PBZPittsburgh40880123001314
PIHPocatello30032113118112
PQRPortland1286556555752
PUBPueblo3987313211692
RAHRaleigh1147470256340
UNRRapid City58622560109104
REVReno1051738146774
RIWRiverton8114169289118
STOSacramento1552179564833
SLCSalt Lake City6597870610426
SJTSan Angelo1037433777082
SGXSan Diego1045149956862
MTRSan Francisco Bay Area/Monterey1583515600479
HNXSan Joaquin Valley/Hanford929735227879
SEWSeattle1042958896951
SHVShreveport2382731413091
FSDSioux Falls1418672035337
OTXSpokane798231419090
SGFSpringfield2153167903343
LSXSt. Louis3080271612338
CTPState College1923349993761
TAETallahassee796555319154
TBWTampa1141463226446
TOPTopeka1170461325948
TWCTucson4873417311470
TSATulsa3354785352028
AKQWakefield8217220187110
ICTWichita23296107003119
ILMWilmington (NC)743140319672
ILNWilmington (OH)33588103001921

Note: The Boston and Gray (ME) Forecast Offices swapped a few zone in southern New Hampshire in December 2014. Unfortunately, the maps do not reflect that change

Historical Facebook Likes:

At irregular intervals, I collect NWS Office Facebook Like totals. The follow six maps show the evolution of Facebook Likes since July 2013. All of the maps use the same class groupings. I found that it makes the comparisons over time easier to visualize. Unfortunately, I do not have any Twitter data prior to 2015.
Figure H1. Facebook Likes by WFO on July 13, 2013. Total = 772,995.

Figure H2. Facebook Likes by WFO on September 1, 2013. Total = 810,383.

Figure H3. Facebook Likes by WFO on February 2, 2014. Total = 1,012,526.

Figure H4. Facebook Likes by WFO on June 2, 2014. Total = 1,381,511.

Figure H5. Facebook Likes by WFO on August 14, 2014. Total = 1,629,994.

Figure H6. Facebook Likes by WFO on March 28, 2015. Total = 2,296,779.