Dear Reader,
Chaos. Panic. Helpless. Everyone in the world experienced one of these feelings today.
The day after the new decade’s first catastrophe has been buzzing with action to say the least. Phone calls from relief agencies, government officials, and concerned family members and friends, the excessive click-clack of keyboards and phone buttons providing real-time updates of the situation in Haiti worldwide, the New-Age ticker (tweets) incessantly updating itself every half-second, and the broadcast of pictures and raw videos from the scene in Haiti–all of this demonstrated the evolution of social media and its impact on real-time information distribution, journalism, relief efforts, and overall support.
Today was a test for social media’s significance in our society, and it passed with flying colors.
The New York Times reported earlier today that a campaign to collect donations for relief efforts in Haiti–spearheaded by the company mGive and the State Department–in brought in $1.2 million. Yes that’s right. Thanks to the text-to-donate initiative or “mobile giving,” as Tony Aiello, chief executive of mGive calls it the public rallied in what could be the swiftest, most efficient way to collect funds for a cause. Read more about the mGive and the initiative HERE .
In other media outlets, social networking sites Twitter and Facebook gave the world a view of the devastation in Haiti–in real-time. Facebook groups such as “Pray for Haiti” were growing in membership by the hour, while Twitter churned out hundreds of tweets before the blink of an eye. Organizations such as the Red Cross, the UN, and government agencies took to online social media to mobilize. ABC reports on the use of social media throughout the day HERE.
Though this is only the beginning, I can say for sure that today’s technology has helped tremendously. I replay the magnitude of support that was obtained from those outside of Haiti today in mind over and over again; and it is almost unfathomable to think of the speed in which it came.
But it is far from over. Pray for Haiti
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