2:57 PM
Kinsz
In a crisis situation, the ability to make contact with other people is of vital importance. Whether you are injured and need emergency assistance, are trying to locate loved ones or just want advice and information, you need a means of communication which is reliable and efficient. With recent technological advances in area of communication, the role of social media in natural disasters has become increasingly prominent as a means of getting in touch with family and friends, finding out essential information and offering or requesting help.
Nowhere has this been illustrated so strikingly as in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, where there was a devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake on 22 February 2011. As the disaster hit during the middle of a working day, families were separated, with parents at work in different locations and children in daycare or at school.
Phone lines were overloaded with anxious callers, and as the population frantically tried to make contact with family members, they were urged to do so via text messaging. With traffic at a standstill in many places, it took some families several hours to be re-united, yet they were able to check on each other by texting.
As rescue workers searched for survivors, worried family members received texts and calls from those who were trapped. They were able to offer support and reassurance to their relatives during those long and difficult hours.
The internet also became an essential communication network during this time. With thousands displaced from their homes and many having fled the disaster zone, people turned to social networking sites to contact friends, post photos and share stories. The rise up Christchurch page on one such site attracted messages of sympathy and support from all over the world. Organisations such as schools and churches posted notices on their websites to inform the public of how they had been effected and whether ordinary services could be resumed.
The internet was extremely important in mobilising aid efforts, particularly the student volunteer army, which played a key role in helping clean up the worst affected suburbs. A website was set up to provide instructions and job descriptions for the volunteers and was updated daily. Offers of emergency accommodation, labour and transport assistance could also be listed for free on the country's biggest online auction site.
Social Media has become a valuable means of communication in many places affected by a natural disaster, which allows people to keep in touch with family and friends and access important information.
Nowhere has this been illustrated so strikingly as in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, where there was a devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake on 22 February 2011. As the disaster hit during the middle of a working day, families were separated, with parents at work in different locations and children in daycare or at school.
Phone lines were overloaded with anxious callers, and as the population frantically tried to make contact with family members, they were urged to do so via text messaging. With traffic at a standstill in many places, it took some families several hours to be re-united, yet they were able to check on each other by texting.
As rescue workers searched for survivors, worried family members received texts and calls from those who were trapped. They were able to offer support and reassurance to their relatives during those long and difficult hours.
The internet also became an essential communication network during this time. With thousands displaced from their homes and many having fled the disaster zone, people turned to social networking sites to contact friends, post photos and share stories. The rise up Christchurch page on one such site attracted messages of sympathy and support from all over the world. Organisations such as schools and churches posted notices on their websites to inform the public of how they had been effected and whether ordinary services could be resumed.
The internet was extremely important in mobilising aid efforts, particularly the student volunteer army, which played a key role in helping clean up the worst affected suburbs. A website was set up to provide instructions and job descriptions for the volunteers and was updated daily. Offers of emergency accommodation, labour and transport assistance could also be listed for free on the country's biggest online auction site.
Social Media has become a valuable means of communication in many places affected by a natural disaster, which allows people to keep in touch with family and friends and access important information.
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