PNSN and social media
You may notice shifting options and policies as we explore social media on our new PNSN web page. Weigh in with suggestions where we are falling short.
Blog
I'm filling the blog with a mix of locally- and internationally-themed short discussions, and plan to enlist a broader cross-section of PNSN scientists to write as I run out of fresh material.
News
Once a day, I try to post recent a news item about earthquakes or volcanoes. I'm not sure how many read the news item, but in any case it may keep the scenery on the home page fresh.
Comments
We (Jon Connelly) have installed the option to comment here with Disqus software, which we think is working well. We first experimented with Fyrewire, but either it or we kept misfiring, and Disqus has run smoother. There is the option now to comment on blog entries but not news items.
The first time a commentator contributes, the comment is moderated - i.e., we need to approve it for it to appear. Subsequent comments will appear immediately as the commentor gets "whitelisted". So far only a couple of comments have been misguided.
You will find PNSN discussion on the PNSN page, including links to the blog, by clicking the Facebook icon in the upper right corner of our web pages. You can subscribe to the material (in Facebook) by "liking" the page.
The PNSN had a Facebook "group". Today, we (Doug Gibbons and Mike Cibicki) quit adding to the group, and formed the "page" to replace it, and asked people to switch over if they wished to continue being subscribed to our discussions. The main difference is that only admins on a page can start a thread. We were concerned that should a major earthquake or volcano episode strike, so many threads might start that we would have little or no continuity in the discussions, and Facebook doesn't let us organize threads well.
We'd prefer that comments be posted on the blog itself. The blog entries are being sorted by topic, and will stay available in the long run, while material on Facebook is harder to sensibly archive. But we recognize that many more people are familiar with using Facebook, and will read and respond to comments there, as well.
In the future - Posting questions on the web page
For now, feel free to post questions on any topic on current threads. We plan to add a specific link for questions in the future, and will archive those questions and answers, as well as the blog.
In the future - Tweets about earthquakes
We also plan to broadcast tweets whenever a significant earthquakes strike the Pacific Northwest, also fairly far down our to-do list.
Comments and suggestions are welcome.