I am sure by now, most of you have heard about, read about, and watched footage of the massive earthquake in Japan that is now causing tsunami warnings all around the world. I, myself, hadn’t heard the horrific news until I came home around 1 in the morning yesterday to a flood of status updates on the matter on both my Facebook and Twitter accounts. And I’m not too sure, as sad as it sounds, if I would have even known had it not been for the Facebook updates commanding me to turn on the TV to CNN. Facebook is serving as a giant discussion forum with people around the world. It's almost as though we are all in the same room together sharing our thoughts on this current event, but in reality we're all coming from different parts of the world. It's quite amazing.
The article “Tsunami Posts Flood Facebook, Dozen Per Second” from the All Facebook link discusses how not only are people using Facebook to keep updated on the news and share their views but a great amount of the posting on Facebook are coming from people who are directly in the center of all the chaos. People of Japan who do not have phones or phones that are currently working are also utilizing Facebook to send word out to friends and loved ones.
I myself know of several people who are currently in Japan and social networking sites like Facebook are proving themselves to be extremely helpful in both keep up with the news and keeping in contact with them.
This is really great to hear. Sometimes I get caught up in all the negative things about Facebook that I fail to realize that it has perhaps an even greater potential for good. People using Facebook to warn others of the tsunami and to tell family that they are OK is a great example of this.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I’m interested to see what Facebook’s reaction to this is, if any. Already, Google is offering maps of affected zones and places to go for help and shelter. With a huge percentage of the population on Facebook, it would be a good idea if there was some sort of emergency alert system in place. This could include Amber Alerts for abducted children, alerts for emergencies on school campuses, and for evacuation warnings. By sending out these alerts on Facebook, chances are more people will get the message faster.