Quakebook
http://quakebook.blogspot.com/
"The 2:46 Quakebook project started with a tweet …. Led by OurManInAbiko, a
call went out across Twitter for contributors to create a book to raise funds
for Red Cross Japan. The idea was to share the stories and experiences of
people actually on the ground during the earthquake, whilst raising funds for
the Red Cross.…The contributions have come from a wide variety of sources, and
include photographs, personal accounts, drawings; each telling their own tale.
Every penny from sales of the book goes directly to Red Cross, Japan."
----------------------
On 11 March 2011 a major earthquake and an unprecedented tsunami hit Japan,
resulting in the worst tragedy in the country's history after WWII. Jammed by
the people who desperately tried to get in touch with their family members,
relatives and friends both within Japan and from abroad, phones (both mobile
and landline) didn't work and emails didn't reach anywhere. Even in Tokyo where
damage was minimal, it was noticeable right away things were out of normal. It
took more than a day for me, now an expat from Tokyo, to get connected with my
brother who lives there. Even then he had to use his landline since his mobile
phone, which he uses exclusively otherwise, was still out of function. It also
became clear a couple of emails he had sent to me after the quake never reached
me. Strangely Twitter and Facebook seemed to have been working. For many
these became their way of communicating with the world; not only could they
tell each other their whereabouts but also gather important information on the
quake's epicentre, the scale of tsunami, further proceedings regarding
shelters, etc. For some, this condition continued for several days. A friend
of mine, also a resident of Tokyo like my brother, told me her phone was not
working properly even after 3 days. She continued to say Twitter and Facebook
were the easiest way for her to communicate with others; according to her, the
feature on Twitter and Facebook to be able to post one's location was a great
additional help for her and her family. Similar stories are told by others, a
couple of which you can read at
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/opinion/17azuma.html?_r=1&src=twrhp (first
two paragraphs) and at http://10mh.net/2011/03/26/quakebook.
This is not the first time I experienced the power of social networking sites
in recent years. Last year Sweden, where I currently reside, had its general
election. To many's dismay, the Sweden Democrats, a political party whose
agenda is clearly and only racist motivated, entered the Swedish national
parliament for the first time. After this news broke, a 17-year-old Felicia
Margineanus made a posting on FB asking people to gather in Sergels torg,
Stockholm's central square, to unite against racism in Sweden. Within a few
hours, the word spread, and at 6 pm on the day after the election day, a time
set by Felicia's message on FB and less than 21-22 hours after the election
result hit the news, more than 5000 people came to Sergels torg, resulting in
one of the largest demonstrations in Sweden in our time.
Though I remain extremely sceptical about the role FB/Twitter played in
Tunisia, Egypt, etc., I nonetheless decided to share with you these two
incidents I myself witnessed.
Sachiko
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