Over the past few weeks we have witnessed tremendous tragedy in natural disasters and political revolt but with this has been an amazing outpouring of aid and incredible sense of community. For someone in the online and social media business it has been interesting to watch the role that social media has played throughout these events.
Texting the world
As history has shown, natural disasters, political unrest and other crises will continue but it seems we are at a new cross-roads in terms of how we learn about, react to and cope with these events. I thought it would be worth highlighting a few of the many ways that social media has made an impact over the past few weeks. Where there is a need, people find a way to use these tools to their advantage. I think some of that same thinking can be applied to using social media in your business.
During the initial aftermath of the Japan crisis, social media platforms played an important role in helping people get help, find each other, let others know who still needed help. When traditional means of communication failed, social media provided the needed communication link.
An open group on Facebook called Japan Quake Survival Strategies was started to let people know how to make donations, where to get purifier straws for drinking water, and what potassium iodine is used for – protection against radiation.
The Red Cross launched a campaign on Causes to raise money for relief efforts. By logging in to Facebook, you can donate anywhere from $10 to $500 to help Tsunami victims and their families.
Twitter published a blog post detailing ways you can help with the relief efforts. Not only have they updated Japan’s mobile website with the latest information on the disaster, but they have also published a list of hashtags to tweet and/or follow related to the crisis. Not surprisingly, Japan Crisis was the number one Tweet topic.
Turning to the middle East, Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms have had a significant impact on these events. Here are just a few.
Speed: Messages and information were shared and communicated much faster.
Global Connections: People were able to easily connect to others around the world.
Global Audience: A Tweet by one person was able reach the entire world and go viral in a matter of minutes.
Reduced secrecy and isolation: Isolation of opinion has become almost impossible.
While there has been much tragedy and devastation, I also think we have witnessed both the goodness and inventiveness of the human spirit as people from around the world have come together to provide help and find new and innovative ways to do so.
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