‘Sir Salter Raleigh’ – NC agencies have a little snow day fun on social media

A good old-fashioned snow day can bring out the youthful exhilaration – and the snark – in many of us.

The folks at the North Carolina Department of Transportation aren’t immune, and they’re letting their excitement show in some lighthearted tweets.

The department, which oversees the maintenance of many roads through salting and plowing, was asked by Twitter user @Mickey_Marine on Tuesday if it had a salt truck named “Sir Salter Raleigh.”

DOT responded with a picture of a snowplow with the name photoshopped on the blade, along with a poem:

“Snow, snow, go away

Don’t come again another day

If you appear, you’ll be sorry

You’ll face the wrath of Sir Salter Raleigh”

On Wednesday morning, @NCDOT responded to a tweet of a gif featuring the Turkish chef known as Salt Bae with, “Salt bae all day.”

And when the Greenville (SC) Police Department tweeted a video of its K9 officer Rocky running and sliding in the snow, @NCDOT broke out the rhymes once again.

“You better watch out,

You better not slide

You better slow down

K-9 Officer Rocky is showing you why”

Stephen Mann has handled the @NCDOT account for about two years now and says he’s trying to change the idea that state government is boring. He said he’s not afraid to try new things and see what works.

“We want to be more personable and relatable,” Mann said. “And through the use of humor in tweets and on Facebook, what I’ve noticed is that when we have important messages to get out, those messages get a lot more engagement and people pay attention.”

Mann says the department notices spikes in followers after a humorous tweet gets retweeted. That’s the whole point: gaining new followers who will see the important messages that go out later.

“The snow events over the past two weeks have given us more opportunities to have a little fun with it,” Mann said.

Others having fun

Of course, the Wake County Schools Twitter account is pretty much the standard bearer for snarky interactions.

On Tuesday evening, after taking heat from some parents about why the school system was taking so long to announce today’s school closings, @WCPSS answered an allcaps, typo-ridden tweet with a simple gif.

The Town of Cary also got into the gif fun.

After tweeting a short video of the town’s snow plow getting ready for its big day, a citizen replied with an excited update once the snow actually started there.

@TownofCary shared the joy.

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 11:05 AM.