Winter Storms and Unplanned School Closure Announcements on Twitter: Comparison Between the States of Massachusetts and Georgia, 2017-2018.

Objective: This project aimed to quantify and compare Massachusetts and Georgia public school districts' 2017-2018 winter-storm-related Twitter unplanned school closure announcements (USCA).

Methods: Public school district Twitter handles and National Center for Education Statistics data were obtained for Georgia and Massachusetts. Tweets were retrieved using Twitter application programming interface.

Monitoring Different Social Media Platforms to Report Unplanned School Closures Due to Wildfires in California, October and December 2017.

Objective: Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitor unplanned school closure (USC) reports through online systematic searches (OSS) to assist public health emergency responses. We counted the additional reports identified through social media along with OSS to improve USC monitoring.

Methods: Facebook and Twitter data of public-school districts and private schools in counties affected by California wildfires in October and December of 2017 and January of 2018 were retrieved.