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ruenhongo

Japan's social safety net: Facebook's Disaster Message Board - 7 views

Net308_508 collaboration social media technology volunteering disaster twitter facebook crisis mobile phones google Japan community victims

started by ruenhongo on 23 Mar 12
  • ruenhongo
    #1 ruenhongo on 23 Mar 12
     
    Smith-Stewart, H. (March 2, 2012). Japan's social safety net: Facebook's Disaster Message Board. ZDNet. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/asia/japans-social-safety-net-facebooks-disaster-message-board/1220 (Accessed 16/03/2012)

    This article is on a more personal level where social media is used more for letting family and friends know that they are out of harm's way and less about finding and sending volunteers to their aid. I thought this was very valuable because it was a way to not only confirm the safety of victims but also to update everyone on their current situations. People in this online community were active in coordinating meeting points with their family and friends. During the disaster that occurred in Japan, a Disaster Message Board was created to ensure that people had a place to go to when they needed to communicate immediately. Google's 'Person Finder' was also put into place during this crisis for those who were out of the situation to locate and get help for their loved ones.

    The Message Board was created because during any crisis, mobile phones become overwhelmed because everyone wants to let their loved ones know that they are okay which can sometimes be hard to get through and so this system is the only reliable way for people to engage quicker. The Message Board had three million active users who were collaborating with each other and also with other companies to find services to help victims.

    Even though this was more active during the Japan crisis, it is not limited to it and is for worldwide disasters to find and locate each other. The main point in this article was that social networks such as this Message Board, Facebook, Twitter and many more help society communicate in a more effective way. (266 words)
  • jessica_mann
    #2 jessica_mann on 11 Apr 12
     
    This article addressed similar themes to the articles that I included in my own research on collaboration and disaster management. Of particular relevance is the article titled, 'Crisis in a Networked World: Features of Computer-Mediated Communication in the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech Event', as it also discusses the ways in which survivors of a tragedy were able to use networked media such as Facebook groups and instant messaging to 'check in' on each other.

    I found this article particularly interesting because after the Virginia Tech shooting, survivors, as well as members of the general public, were able to use the Facebook group 'I'm OK at Virginia Tech' to compose a list of the deceased victims even before they were officially released. The article 'Japan's social safety net: Facebook's Disaster Message Board' depicts what I perceive to be the next step in networked disaster management with Facebook publically acknowledging that the site can, and often is, used in the process of disaster response. Further to this, Facebook has gone about actively facilitating a tool specifically designed for crisis and disaster management rather than simply allowing users to utilise the platform in an entirely ad hoc, reactive kind of way

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