Haiti Earthquake Rescue Efforts and Facebook

Social networking sites are no longer just for socializing, it seems. In response to the huge amount of users that have turned to Facebook and other sites in order to give and get information about the devastating earthquake in Haiti this month, the site has created a page to help in the effort.

According to Andrew Noyes on pcworld.com, the response on Facebook begain just moments after the quake hit. Status messages about Haiti were rolling into the site at about 1,500 per minute.

BBC News reported that people have already donated more to the Haiti relief funds than for the Tsunami in Asia or Hurricane Katrina. Of the first $35 million received by the Red Cross in donations, $8 million has come from SMS donations.

Other social media such as Twitter have added to the outpouring. Wyclef Jean. a Haitian musician popular world wide, has raised over $1 million by asking his million plus Twitter followers.

These sites have done more than help collect money for the effort. Organizations such as the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) are using the sites to communicate with each other as to what different congregations in the church are doing and when. The pages serve as a clearinghouse for information within an organization. For example, UMCOR churches can post how many health kits they have made, what type of fundraising or relief efforts each congregation is undertaking, where to send funds or supplies and what programs might be offered through UMCOR and how to find out about them.

The sites allow volunteers and contributors to stay in contact with one another, exchange information, organize and support one another's efforts.

On the ground in Haiti, volunteers and rescuers were using Twitter and Facebook to communicate with one another.

The future of social networking is solid. It's hard to tell what frontiers these sites might contribute to as they grow and adapt with our culture.

Sources:

Chubb, Peter. Twitter and Facebook Haiti Earthquake Appeal: Power of Social Media. 16 Jan 2010. http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/01/16/twitter-and-facebook-haiti-earthquake-appeal-power-of-social-media/

Gaudin, Sharon. Facebook Creates Page for Haiti Earthquake Information.15 Jan 2010. http://www.pcworld.com/article/187019/facebook_creates_page_for_haiti_earthquake_information.html.