The unpredictability of natural disasters has been a very disturbing phenomenon. The tsunami and the quakes in Japan and Haiti are a case in point. Due to the unpredictable nature of the disasters then all that is left to do is respond. Response time is a crucial factor in the aftermath of a natural disaster, Social media is the clear choice to respond in the wake of disaster. Social media in natural disasters is a very crucial addition and must go hand in hand.
Social media is used to organize people to help others, it helps in locating people who are lost in the disaster and lastly helps the world to keep in check with the developments on the ground.
Many of the people when affected by major natural disasters embrace social media because the other alternative communication channel are more often than not obliterated. The roads, phones lines, faxes and mail are more likely not to be functioning after a natural disaster but social media is often the only communication channel left.
The social media can be used effectively in wireless devices and can continue to thrive without any physical infrastructure. The tsunami and quake in Japan was prominently on the top of the social media website twitter less than an hour after it happened. There was video and photographs of the disaster alongside text all over twitter. The mention of the disaster on the website was over a thousand times a minute. This calculated clearly shows that over sixty thousand mentions or posts were done in an hour.
During the Haitian earthquake the people and aid organizations used social media to locate family members dead or alive. All one had to do is post a message and a picture in a special page on Facebook and the aid organizations would contact their centers to locate the people listed. Majority of the lost children found their mothers or family using this method.
In the Indonesian tsunami disaster the people had special blogs to share and update information on the dead, alive, lost and injured. The social media is breaking geographical and cultural barriers and connecting people from all around the world than it had ever been imagined.
The real time effect of the social media has helped many people and aid groups to minimize costs of raising funds. The raising of funds after a natural disaster today is instantaneous because people have all the information they need to lend a helping hand.
Social media is used to organize people to help others, it helps in locating people who are lost in the disaster and lastly helps the world to keep in check with the developments on the ground.
Many of the people when affected by major natural disasters embrace social media because the other alternative communication channel are more often than not obliterated. The roads, phones lines, faxes and mail are more likely not to be functioning after a natural disaster but social media is often the only communication channel left.
The social media can be used effectively in wireless devices and can continue to thrive without any physical infrastructure. The tsunami and quake in Japan was prominently on the top of the social media website twitter less than an hour after it happened. There was video and photographs of the disaster alongside text all over twitter. The mention of the disaster on the website was over a thousand times a minute. This calculated clearly shows that over sixty thousand mentions or posts were done in an hour.
During the Haitian earthquake the people and aid organizations used social media to locate family members dead or alive. All one had to do is post a message and a picture in a special page on Facebook and the aid organizations would contact their centers to locate the people listed. Majority of the lost children found their mothers or family using this method.
In the Indonesian tsunami disaster the people had special blogs to share and update information on the dead, alive, lost and injured. The social media is breaking geographical and cultural barriers and connecting people from all around the world than it had ever been imagined.
The real time effect of the social media has helped many people and aid groups to minimize costs of raising funds. The raising of funds after a natural disaster today is instantaneous because people have all the information they need to lend a helping hand.
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