Going off “The Good Thing About Facebook”, people can really unite and spread the word about a disaster as big as Japan. The world knew about the earthquake and tsunami within a few hours not only because of the news, but also because of social networking sites. However, worldly problems like Japan are not the only disasters that plague Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.
When the “Rainpocalypse” hit Indiana, the Animal Rescue Foundation in Muncie was flooded. The helpless cats, dogs, and a few pigs were trapped in cages trying to stay above water. Though none drowned, the entire rescue center was under water, which ruined the food, medical supplies, and so on. I volunteer there on a regular basis and had already started following them on Twitter (@munciearf). As soon as it was safe, the owners and regular volunteers raced to ARF to evacuate the dogs and cats. Through constant tweets asking for foster homes, every animal was put in a foster home within the day. They also started tweeting that they needed food, medical supplies, cleaning supplies, and general help. People started re-tweeting to their own followers to spread the word and within the week the Animal Rescue Foundation had hundreds of volunteers cleaning up the rescue center, dropping off food for the animals, and spending their own money to replace the medical supplies.
Being able to contact people through these social networking sites has given them a chance to help others in need. It really shows how connected our society is even though we don’t realize it. Whether it’s a disaster like Japan or the Animal Rescue Foundation, Shirky does a great job in saying it brings everybody together.
I think this is a great display of a humitarian effort to really bring the community together for a great cause. Technology has a vast potential, but its not living up to that potential or using the technology in other ways that can be our downfall. This was an amazing of technology and people at their best, but many times we see people using this great tool for trivial things. I feel social media such as twitter and facebook do a great job informing and getting people aware, but how often do people go beyond just the awareness step? We can all sit behind our computers and talk about the tragedies that happen, and I feel that more often than not this is the case. People have this fantastic potential, but they don't live up to it. Its good to see the opposite side of it such as in this case.
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