Twitter and Facebook can Save Your Life During a Disaster
I NEVER thought of the idea that twitter can save your life during a disaster. I don't think that in my mind at least the first thing I would do is be like, "Oh!! I'm about to die, to have someone come find and save me let me tweet where I am". That's just never something I thought about. It's interesting though how just microblogging can be taken to the next level. In the article it discusses how the impact of the huge earthquakes in Chile and Haiti this year were more publicized and knew how bad the damage was because of twitter and people posting pictures on it. It's incredible that in 140 characters someone can say everything they need to say about what has happened. People are taking online resources to new heights and this is one I never thought could happen. It's interesting that also now with the capabilities on twitter of allowing to be able to post your location as well that if you were caught underneath some sort of rubble or anything, that on your twitter they can get an exact map through google and they'd be able to locate you to almost an exact location by just zooming in on the area. So in a way twitter can really do that for you, save you from a disaster.
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Leah,
ReplyDeleteWow, what a thought that Twittering could save your life. I guess it makes sense that given today's technology, such a message could help pinpoint somebody's location and condition during a disaster. I guess I may have to add texting capabilies to my cell phone...just in case, of course.
Hi Leah:
ReplyDeleteI felt a little weird about the disaster article. On one hand, I think that cell phones and Smart devices are great social tools that make life so much easier. Case in point, if you are in trouble or danger, one can login to a personal social networking account such as Twitter and call for help. In some cases, the Twitter community response time is faster than that of the local police or rescue unit. I must admit that Tweeter as a life saving option is a great occurrence.
Now, the thing that creeped me out a little was the GPS / Google locating capability. I understand that this kind of tracking ability has its benefits, but the cynic in me is just cannot resist imaginging various "Big Brother" type scenarios. While I totally agree with you and acknowledge that Twitter as a life saving online resource has moved up to the next level, I also must take into account that the power of other assorted "entities" we may not know anything about, may now have the ability as well to track and invade our privacy without our knowledge. I think of it as "the dark side" of technology integration.
~Aja
leah..i agree that the disaster thing is pretty cool but i also see where aja is coming from. It is a little weird that all this technology can do this. If I am in a position that my life depends on this technology i guess i wouldnt mind. It sounds great to help those that may be in danger...lets not forget those that tweet when they are driving and make danger too.
ReplyDeleteI am not a Twitter user and am not going to go and sign up for it because of this article but like the others I can see how it could offer a means to obtain assistance if you were in some kind of disaster situation. I do recall recently reading an article about things to never post on your Facebook status and among other things it strongly suggested not posting your location when not at home. Like Aja said, there is something a little creepy about the whole world having access to every move we make.
ReplyDeleteYes completely agree with everyone stating about twitter and "big brother". gbickett- I also heard to what is appropriate/non appropriate to post on facebook statuses as well because it leads to bigger risks of a lot of different things. But I never thought that the internet a a website like twitter could lead to something like that. It's just mind boggling to me that people are using these means now instead of just calling 911 to help themselves if they are unable to. Because I don't think the first thing I would do is post on my twitter I need help with exxact pinpointing locations. You know??
ReplyDeleteLeah,
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! LOL!!! LOL!!!!....."Because I don't think the first thing I would do is post on my twitter I need help with exxact pinpointing locations. You know??"
I totally agree! I am from New York City and can you imagine me saying," Mr. Mugger, Uhmm, can you wait up a minute, while I log into my Twitter account to call for help."