Early internet pioneers such as Howard Rheingold made the case that the new medium could be a means to provide emotional support to one another, or to help political organisation and activism. Photo / Getty Images
Early internet pioneers such as Howard Rheingold made the case that the new medium could be a means to provide emotional support to one another, or to help political organisation and activism. Photo / Getty Images
Social media swiftly reassures and informs during an emergency.
Now that so many people use social media - Facebook claims more than 1.5 billion users - it makes an excellent, swift, alternative means of communication. This can be useful in times of terrorist attacks, events such as the Arab Spring or elections in countries with state-controlled news outlets, or natural disasters.
For example, Facebook launched its Safety Check service in October 2014, inspired by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011. Japanese engineers developed a prototype that allowed users to quickly notify their friends they were safe. The service monitors posts to infer the location of the user, and if it's detected they are in proximity to a natural disaster the user is prompted to indicate whether he or she is safe. First used only for natural disasters, Facebook activated Safety Check during the Paris attacks.
Google deployed a similar service, Person Finder, following the Haiti earthquake in 2010. The American Red Cross also launched Safe and Well in 2013, but Facebook's Safety Check is easier to use - and given Facebook's enormous popularity would reach more people.
Early internet pioneers such as Howard Rheingold in his book Virtual Community (1993) made the case that this new medium could be a means to provide emotional support to one another, or to help political organisation and activism. Similar arguments were made in the 1920s with the introduction of radio. Then, radio amateurs had to stand up against government regulators who'd sought to restrict civilians from the opportunity of two-way radio communication.
Critics have argued that the use of new media in disaster relief is really just a red herring to disguise its otherwise superficial nature, and that companies such as Facebook want to whitewash themselves to rake in more money. After all, these services claim the rights to everything one uploads. Others have complained that a tool that applies flags to profile pictures to show solidarity after events such as Paris isn't available for other notable, and arguably worse, events elsewhere in the world.
There are other concerns. Safety Check has been misused, for example, by users not in Nepal at the time of the earthquake.
Many social media services have location-based features, which when combining social and geolocation data has raised concerns about security and privacy. Such information has been used to rob celebrities.
Facebook promises that only a user's friends can see the Safety Check update, as an apparent precaution against malicious use. But there is considerable value in what's referred to as volunteered geographic information (VGI). Charities, aid agencies and NGOs have used VGI to build support for their work, such as the Mapping Kibera project in a deprived neighbourhood of Nairobi, Kenya. Kibera is a blank spot on commercially available maps, including Google Maps, meaning it was difficult for aid organisations to provide help effectively. Local activists started the Mapping Kibera project in 2009 with volunteers charting the neighbourhood and carrying out a census. In co-operation with OpenStreetMaps they were able to create a detailed map that helps deliver more targeted aid.
The same techniques and technologies have been used elsewhere for citizen journalism and disaster relief. In Africa, activists created the Ushahidi platform which allows the easy deployment of independent, VGI-based news services. Initially developed in 2008 to allow citizens to report violence following the Kenyan national election, it has since been used in many places that lack independent news media to provide an alternative, frontline view of current events. One of its advantages is that volunteered information can also be submitted by text message, important for developing countries where internet access is not always a given.
So there is justified scepticism towards what social media platforms can achieve, but compared to others they do have the advantage of being scalable.
After hurricane Sandy, US authorities used social media posts such as reports, photos or location data to create a post-mortem analysis that could inform planners how to protect the area from future disasters. In this respect social media is not so different to old-fashioned media: a lot of superficial fluff, but with moments when it really shines.
• Alexander von Lunen is the Senior Lecturer in Digital Humanities, University of Huddersfield.
High-tech help for two-legged pup
Tumbles is still getting the hang of his wheelchair. Photo / Facebook
Tumbles was taken to a pet shelter in Athens, Ohio when he was just two weeks old.
He was looked after by Friends of the Shelter Dogs (FOSD), a non-profit organisation that rescues dogs in need.
The little dog was the runt of the litter, and had only two legs.
He was having problems competing for his mother's milk, so needed hand-feeding, Angela Marx, the board president of FOSD, told BuzzFeed News.
"We decided that he really needed extra special care and to be bottle-fed so he could become strong and healthy," she said.
Social media came to the little pooch's rescue - a couple saw a photo of Tumbles on FOSD's Facebook page and decided they wanted to help.
"Since he is so little and still growing he needs to learn how to walk properly. Once the wheelchair is properly fitted he will need to go through physical therapy."
Tumbles is not currently up for adoption - his foster mother has fallen in love with him and it is expected that she will adopt him.
