Disaster sparks social media innovation

how innovative is this?

I guess if 'Our man in Akiba' wanted to help, he would go down in person to help..

bad guess anglootaku ... he IS helping by creating the net book that's proceeds will go to the red cross. We here in Austin Texas have been doing bake sales, and fund raising since it happened. What have YOU done?

And this article prove that A:people all over the world care. B:that when handed a lemon in life, many people are able to turn it into lemonade. C: the internet is much more powerful than many people expected.

What we've really seen in this disaster, along with other disasters recently, is that tools like twitter and facebook can be so useful, not just for reading what celebs are bitching about, but actually delivering quick concise information, contacting people and spreading awareness and campaigns. It has been very wonderful to see.

One thing I feel bad about personally is that the world (which generally loves Japan, as I do, not sure about some of you guys ^^) has made a massive outpouring of love and help for Japan. We (at least I) did not do this for Pakistan, and did not do this (on the same level) for Haiti. I feel two-faced somehow and will try to do better in the future. (FWIW, J-List is offering 5% of our sales through April to the Japan Red Cross, plus we have a Danny Choo original T-shirt, 25% of which is donated)

ppayne; Actually you are wrong. If you love Jpaan isn't 5% a bit low?

how innovative is this?

Not at all but this is just another "news" piece about a hot topic.

PPayne, I have to disagree with you, America did TONS for Haiti as well, still is, and the scope of the Japanese difficulties are much more difficult.

For you and me who can access the social media such as facebook, e-discussion platforms, etc, it has had a huge effect. However and paradoxically, the people who need this information such as those affected by the radiations are now living in camps without such electronic channels. their needs are also many including security, weather, food, settlement etc. It is therefore difficult for them to access this media and voice their concerns and contribute to the debate. Other forms of message dissemination such as radio and word of mouth could be sought. This appears stone age stuff but unfortunately for now, it is the one working with these displaced needy people. Briefly, the social media is informing and shaping debate, EXCLUDING those most affected by the calamity, who currently wallow in confusion, uncertainty and hopelessness!!

Yes, the world is doing a lot of good for Japan, which I am exceedingly happy about. This is a time of bridge-building I think!

But, while we are giving with one hand, the other hand taketh away. I am speaking specifically about the panicking herds of shoppers who boycott Japanese products because they may be radioactive. There are companies in Okinawa who now cannot sell their products!

Agree with japan123.

That info helps only the people that can access it and also fully agree that in times of needs and emergencies lower tech stuff is more reliable and useful.

I got calls on my IP-Phone from people asking about help to contact others as some FB, etc servers were overloaded and couldn't cope. E-Mail, IM, IP-Phone all worked fine at that time.

How many people today rely on their cel-phones for Internet access, etc and guess those services are the first to drop, similar as happens at New year, Y2K Cutover, etc.

Like the Local wards many companies I know use FB, Twitter, etc not as communication tools perse but more to publish news and bulletins as they are still free(for now).