As this post was being written, an additional foot and a half of snow fell on Boston. Some would say that it is just a typical New England winter, and I would agree, if it weren’t for the words “record-breaking”. With Juno, aka #BlizzardOf2015, dumping over 35 inches of snow in parts of Massachusetts over a two-day span, Boston has seen the highest snow totals in its recorded history. How do people feel about the crazy amount of snow? Lace up your Bean Boots and let’s dig through the massive pile of posts and tweets and see what what we can find!
As you can imagine, there is quite a range of sentiment when looking at 2015’s snow conversation. From high schoolers celebrating snow days, to commuters dreading the treacherous roads and public transit delays. It’s interesting to see that people over the age of 35 own 62% of the conversation. Worcester, MA holds the title of the Snowiest City in the United States with 92.1 inches. Boston, at 78.5 inches, is currently holding down the number four spot behind Erie, PA and Buffalo, NY. Out of all the snow related posts with identifiable location, Boston accounts for 14.75% of the entire conversation.
With news of historic snowfall spreading across social media, people were eager to share their snow pics and live-tweeted history. #BlizzardOf2015 emerged as the banner for sharing storm updates. Social Media played a major role in warning people of the impending storm. With Topic Waves, you can see the conversations that emerged throughout the storms.
It’s great to be able to look at trending words, phrases and overall metrics, but in order to categorize and track unique pieces of the conversation, BrightView comes in to do the heavy lifting. You can now analyze the conversation using human logic, by example, breaking it into a Life Cycle analysis (Pre-Snow, During Snowfall, and The Aftermath). As the snow storms accumulated and days passed, it is fascinating to see how the social chatter shifted. Weather forecasts and news sharing shifted to excitement and then digging out.
Each unique category can be analyzed and dug-into individually as well. When looking into Pre-Snow: Preparing for Storm, it is immediately evident that people are heading to the store to buy their bread, milk and beer. Imagine being able to target consumers based on their specific needs and unique situation.
Crimson Hexagon is a robust platform that can leverage your knowledge and creativity and help answer business questions that are often lost in the blizzard conditions of social data. Time to get back out there to get ready for the next storm!
