Social Media Doing Good

Just when it seems Twitter is simply a forum for banter about Charlie Sheen’s latest antics and other nonsense, the social media company and others like it become strategic players in disaster relief and other non-profit organization missions.

With all eyeballs on the latest natural disaster news whether it appears on Facebook, Twitter or a local news website or blog, people are paying attention and want to help out. Certainly anyone at the scene of an unfolding disaster can instantly share news of earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, and floods, but non-profit organizations are increasingly using social media tools to mobilize potential victims and rescuers.

For the American Red Cross, Hurricane Katrina was the impetus for creating a social media strategy. Initially the efforts were driven by a desire to combat negative blog posts about the response time of relief efforts in New Orleans. What they found was people truly want to help, not just complain, and that has resulted in everything from improving coordinated relief on the ground to grassroots fundraising on Facebook.

And each disaster brings social media innovations as human beings connect over a common cause. After the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Japan this year, a British teacher living near Tokyo created, “Quakebook,” a Twitter-sourced project that started with a single Tweet. The book of images and essays about the catastrophe will raise funds for the Japanese Red Cross—and has been promoted in part on Twitter.

Even the United States government—not exactly known for being a leader in technology innovation—turned to social media tools after the Haiti earthquake in 2010. The Homeland Security Department created the Haiti Social Media Disaster Monitoring Initiative to monitor Twitter posts, blogs, and other Internet forums for up-to-the-minute data. In that instance, trapped victims were able to text or call relatives, as well as organizations like the American Red Cross, and have those messages passed on to aid workers who could come to their rescue.

With each new disaster headline comes a new way for people to get involved, help out others, and discover new ways to communicate in a time of crisis. Since 2005 when the American Red Cross set out to just listen to the chatter on the Internet, social media has exploded and become an aspect of daily business at non-profits such as the National Wildlife Federation, the Humane Society of the United States, the March of Dimes and many more. People can choose their cause and how to follow their updates, donate or stay on top of the latest news. And even without breaking news, people can get on sites like www.twestival .com to join and support a local movement or cause.

As one commenter noted online, social media is about relationships and caring. “It really is bringing out the best in us, and it is only the beginning.”

There are no comments yet. Be the first and leave a response!

Leave a Reply

Wanting to leave an <em>phasis on your comment?

Trackback URL http://meaningful-marketing.com/social-media-doing-good/trackback/