New communication direction on social media at the Hungarian Meteorological Service

At the Hungarian Meteorological Service (HMS), the development and conscious use of social media channels began in 2018. In the recent years, there have been many developments, and content creation has started on several new platforms. We had to react to the changing habits in social media, so at the HMS we try to reach more and more people and deliver trustworthy meteorological data and forecasts to them. In order to do this, we try to use various communication styles on our social media platforms. We have three main social media channels (Facebook, Instagram and Youtube), and each platform has its own distinct role. For example, we usually publish measurements, short- and medium-range forecasts, and weather analysis on Facebook. On Instagram, we use a much more direct tone, and we try to present the whole HMS (employees, other areas of expertise), and post a lot of pictures from our followers. According to our experience, a little fun always fits in, so sometimes we use a tool of humor. Thanks to this we also reach age groups that we have not before. On our Youtube channel, we make a daily weather forecast video, which is presented by our meteorologist. Besides this, we also publish climate analyzes and summaries. For the visualization we have a self-developed, operationally used interactive visualization system, the HAWK-3. The HAWK-3 processes the numerical model data and after that we can visualize or edit it. The program can display data on maps or special meteorological charts.

Our primary goal is to present meteorological information and forecasts to the public with a modern graphical display on social media. In addition, another important objective is to break down stereotypes about the profession and present the activities of the service.