Social Media Break: Scott Harbaugh
1. How long have you been using social media? Personally? Professionally?
I’ve been using social media regularly since 2008. It took me a while to embrace it for work purposes, but I wish I had sooner. It is truly the #1 way I reach people.
2. What social media outlets do you use?
As a company we use Facebook and Twitter the most. It’s the easiest way to interact with viewers and get a sense of what is important each day. We’re just now starting to dip into Pinterest and other outlets.
3. How often do you post to your accounts?
It depends greatly on what weather is going on that day. On a quiet day, I might post one thing to my Facebook page and four or five things to Twitter. If there is severe weather, my Twitter posts can top two dozen. On those days it’s about keeping people informed.
4. What device do you use primarily when posting to or using social media? (Computer, iPhone, etc.)
I’m still a bit of a dinosaur. I use my PC the most. If I’m out and about I’ll sometimes use my iPhone.
5. How do you balance your presence among different networks? (Do you post different things? Do you use one for personal and one for professional, etc.?)
I definitely try to make the posts slightly different with the exceptions of weather warnings. My theory is … why follow the exact same stream of information twice. Hence, my Facebook page has a lot of trivia questions and seeks people’s opinions more.
6. How do you engage with your social media audience?
I ask questions…even simply things such as “How about this weather?” I try to get people to post weather pictures or what is going on in their area. It gives me a far greater sense as to what is happening in each individual neighborhood during bad weather.
7. In using social media, what do you find to be the most rewarding? Most challenging?
The most rewarding part of social media is definitely feeling a connection to the people who follow you or “like” your page. You can really get to know people. The bad part is you can really get to know people. J Some people just want to hear themselves complain about everything. I get that enough being in the weather business, but when we just had five 70-degree, sunny days and people start complaining about a rainy Tuesday. Enough!
8. How has social media helped your business or brand?
We have four meteorologists at WPXI. I’m the PCNC cable guy and the fill-in guy. Yet … I have more followers on Twitter than almost any meteorologist at our 13 Cox Media Group stations. It has made me relevant in the work place. And in this day in age … relevancy is of paramount importance.
9. Which social media outlet do you think is under-utilized? OR Which outlet do you see as an up-and-comer?
I think Google+ is probably the one with the most potential that people just aren’t fully embracing. The fact that TV stations are using “+” for on-air live chats and forums is amazing. I think it has a ton of upside, but it might be too much for some people to really give it a try.
10.What are some of your favorite accounts or pages to follow?
On Twitter … @WPXIScott. On Facebook … WPXIScottHarbaugh. Kidding. I follow all legitimate individuals who follow me. Those people are my favorite accounts to follow, because if you’re following their feeds you’re more in tuned to who they actually are as people. When you have 245,000 followers and you only follow 53 people – you’re only interested in knowing yourself. You need to care about the people who care about you.
11.Have you been guilty of a social media faux pas? Care to share details?
The one thing I have to stop doing, especially on Twitter, is having individual conversations with people. I know it annoys others and occasionally leads to people “unfollowing” me. I need to keep those to DMs.
12. How would you describe social media to your Grandmother (or Grandfather)?
Hmmm. I would tell them it’s like television was to them in the 1940s. All of a sudden you have this streamlined way to get information out as quickly as possible. But now you don’t have to wait to get the information at a scheduled time. You get it 24 hours a day…7 days a week. However, you often get information you don’t want or don’t even care about (i.e. foursquare. I don’t care that you just crossed the Ft. Pitt Bridge).
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Scott Harbaugh is meteorologist for PCNC, WPXI and wpxi.com. He is a native Pittsburgher who is happy to be back in town after a few years with stations across the country. Despite many losing seasons, he is one of the Pittsburgh Pirates biggest fans. If you want to know the weather, he’s your man.
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