Japanese earthquake and reactions to it on social media

One of the most talked about issues these days is Friday’s devastating earthquake and its consequences. Social media are not an exception – recent events in Japan are one of the most common issues mentioned on these sites. I found an interesting article on Mashable about how Facebook users reacted to the news about the earthquake and events happening afterwards.

As the article states, on March 11 there have been 4.5 million status updates from 3.8 million users from all around the world including words ‘Japan’, ‘earthquake’ or ‘tsunami’. On the site is also an interesting animation showing the map of the world and animation on when and where postings about Japanese natural disaster were published. Beside being the platform for sharing the most recent news and reports on the events, expressing condolence and sympathies with the affected, was Facebook also among the quickest tools to use to get in touch with people in the areas affected by the natural disaster.

Source: mashable.com

 

Also days after the earthquake many posts on Facebook include Japan and topic’s related to it. Beside the above-mentioned reasons people now use Facebook also for making donations for the people in devastated areas.

Similar situation was also on Twitter where reaction the earthquake was immediate and rapidly trending – not only around the world but also in Japan. There have been around 1200 tweets per minute coming from Tokio. Twitter played even more important role – in the published tweets were posted estimated times of when the tsunami was about to hit the US coast. The estimations were published even before the official government warning was released.

In the event of the Japanese earthquake social media played prominent role – not only for sharing news and reports on what is going on in Japan, but also for getting in touch with people affected by the disaster after phone system knocked down. And they may play even greater role in following what is going on these days and the following days after the consequences of the earthquake are still about to reveal. General public worldwide seems to be doubting whether official governmental reports and reports coming from the nuclear plants are true and honest therefore they might trust more postings on social media coming from people being in the middle of happening.

Can you hear me?

There is so much going on on the Twitter. Hundreds, no, thousand and thousands of people are tweeting on more or less regular basis. Some of them are so regular, that you can see their new tweets every minute if not every few seconds. And all this can be a bit overwhelming at the times.

Sometimes I feel like I’m standing in a huge room full of people and everyone is shouting all over the place. Some are shouting random thoughts coming through their minds, some are talking about their current activities, others are answering someone’s questions or replying to someone’s tweet. And I’m standing in the middle of the room, trying to get the best out of all this noises I’m hearing. And often seems like the best way to do is just simply turn around and walk away.

All this talking that is occurring on the Twitter and other social media makes me wonder how successful is your message in reaching others in all this clutter. It  seems almost like you and your message need to be at the right place at the right time to be heard; otherwise it is just one more shout in the crowd.It’s kind of a lottery – if you have luck, someone will hear you and your message will be effective. Otherwise – better luck next time.

Can you imagine how many tweets per minute gets someone who is following 1000 people? I would dare to say that the percentage of the messages this person really sees is very low. So, where is the point of following as many people as you can if you almost never see or hear what they say? Wouldn’t be better to choose few people to follow? Few people that you know, or at least assume, might have to say something you could be interested in?

I certainly agree that in Twitter quality should be more important than quantity. Especially because there are hash tags you can search for. You can find all kinds of tweets about the topic you are interested in by doing that. There are still lots and lots of tweets but at least you know you are looking at the right place for you topic of interest.

Once again about Twitter

In one of my classes last week, we somehow started to talk about Twitter. And most of the students and especially professor were like “What is Twitter anyway?” Probably the question almost everyone who sees the Twitter page for the first time asks himself or herself. I did the same. Fortunately, I took Social Media class, where I learned a lot about Twitter and its strategical usage. But there are also other ways to clear the mystery around Twitter and answer the questions that might arise when using or at least trying to use Twitter.

Good job of explaining what Twitter is and how to use it does the video Twitter in Plain English. If you rather see the person you are listening to, you might want to watch How to Use Twitter. In case you prefer reading, you shouldn’t have problems with finding several articles and blog posts explaining Twitter and giving tips about its usage. Among them are How to Use Twitter – Tips for Bloggers and How to Use Twitter Without Twitter Owning You – 5 Tips. And probably the best way to get familiar with the Twitter – star using it. Explore, play around, tweet your questions and problems you may encounter. I’m sure at least someone will give you useful advice.

Pretending to be someone else

If you want to create a Facebook, Twitter, etc.  account you don’t really need to be super intelligent or put huge amount of effort in it. All you need is name, valid e-mail and in some cases birth date. And as easy as it is to create an account for yourself, it is for someone else. It’s not exactly hard to get someones name, create an e-mail account and come up with a date of birth.

Especially easy is to get this information about publicly exposed people. This is probably the reason why Angelina Joli and Brad Pitt have almost countless Facebook profiles, Tom Cruise and George Bush are not far behind. Also Twitter accounts can seem to be something they really are not. Dalai Lama’s Twitter account raised some controversy when claiming “Welcome to the official Twitter page of His Holiness the Dalai Lama–administered by The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” when it really wasn’t.  British actors Emma Watson and Ewan McGregor had problems because of information published on allegedly theirs Twitter accounts.  They both denied having the Twitter accounts and publishing any information on them.

This probably doesn’t cause much of a problem to these people, they might not even know about all of the profiles and accounts created on their behalf. But does this make it acceptable? Can you just take someones name and photo, and pretend to be someone else?

I would say no. I still consider this as a way of identitiy theft. Even though it is not as damaging and serious as e.g. credit card identity theft, it is still nothing else than an identitiy theft. The availibility of information and different technological tools doesn’t mean they can be exploited in a negative way. And creating social media profiles and accounts on someone else’s behalf are not an exception. Even though the intents are completely harmless, it is inappropriate and unacceptable to use someone’s personal information, pretend to be someone else and deceive others.

Writing? Video? Photo?

Do you think you are not good at writing? And because of that you don’t want to actively use various social media? Well, this is not a problem at all. The beauty of social media is also their multiformity. Instead of writing blog, twitting short thoughts, writing notes on you Facebook page, you can grab your camera and take a photo that tells all. Or even better, you can make a video. Is not that difficult. With all the technology available nowadays is actually really easy. You can even edit it with several different programs enabling that. Using photos and videos can make social media even more appealing – it’s hard to resist a funny video or an interesting photo.

And my theory in practice

Do you have a confession to make?

I’ve found many different sides of Twitter since I started using it. But my this week discovery was the most amusing and shocking at the same time. I read The New York Times article about anonymous online confessions on SecretTwitt. I was wondering what kind of “deep mysteries” people share with the rest of the world on this site. And I was really surprised with what I read.

True, social media enables you to share what you want with the rest of the world. But I would suggest filtering information before posting it on any online site. I’m not quite sure that statement “I’m a guy and I love wearing bikini briefs under my business clothes.” is something you should share with the rest of the world. I would say this is just TOO much information. Besides, online and private are two not exactly compatible words.

If you really feel the need of wording the deepest and maybe most humiliating secrets about yourself, I would suggest finding some other way – not posting it online.

The Value of Twitter

When I created my Twitter account, I didn’t really know what to do with it. Not that it didn’t look interesting, but I just didn’t imagine how it can be used in way other than just keeping others updated about what you are doing.  When I started following more people, my horizons began widening. But it was not until the last Tuesday, when I realized the real value of Twitter.

The Tuesday’s crazy weather surprised me a bit and I didn’t really know what is going on. Before I went home, I stayed in Student Union for a while and watched constant weather reports on TV. I didn’t exactly understand what they are showing, besides I couldn’t hear anything because sound was turned off. I didn’t know if I’m about to die or the sun will start shining in few minutes. This somehow discouraged me from watching TV when I got home. I rather opened the Twitter site, searched for #OKstorms (http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23OKStorms) and read what other people had to say.

I was amazed, how many information I got. There were not only updates about weather conditions in different parts of Oklahoma, but also pictures and videos. New updates were coming every minute through the whole evening. Next day I checked #OKstorms to see how severe were tornado damages and current weather conditions. It was easy, comprehensive and quick.

I was so positively surprised by the huge amount of valuable information you can get on Twitter that I searched more about it. And there is so much more. If you like to travel, Twitter can become your personal travel guide (http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2009/02/twittering-while-traveling.html). Do you like to cook? Perfect, use Twitter to get new ideas and tips (http://gapersblock.com/drivethru/2009/02/12/foodies_worth_following/). Someone even experiments with burglar alarms connected with Twitter (http://www.kelvinsthunderstorm.com/2009/02/twitter-burglar-alarm/).

So, I guess, with all this different possibilities, Twitter offers something for someone.