Social media and the news
A couple of years ago, we dropped cable TV and setup our XBox to watch live streaming Netflix. After awhile, I put together a computer running Boxee, and we started watching Hulu and other shows that way. Now we’ve got a PS3 along with the XBox, and Hulu Plus is available on both. I’ve also got PlayOn, and can watch Hulu, Netflix, etc. on my modded Nook Color. Basically, our family gets all of our video entertainment through the Internet and only the Internet. So when a tornado sweeped through my home town of Joplin, there was no breaking in, no important news updates, but we knew about it almost as instantly as it happened.
Thanks to Facebook and Twitter, we found out through friends and family that our hometown was under a tornado watch. Then the rumors started pouring in that St. John’s Hospital in Joplin was hit by a tornado and suffered severe damage. A quick Google search later and I’m reading live updated over twitter from various sources describing the damage, and linking to a live video feed on the Weather Channel’s website. Then the personal reports from friends and family started pouring in.
One friend reported early that her father’s house in Duquesne ( a suburb on the East side of Joplin) was destroyed. Once I realized that St. John’s and Duquesne were damaged, I realized that my sister’s house was in between those two points. I sent her a quick text, and got a call back from my brother-in-law letting me know that both my sisters and their husbands were safe, though one of my sisters’ house of damaged. A little while later we got a call from my wife’s sister. She told us that she was in her vehicle with her family at the corner of 20th and Rangeline (which we already knew suffered sever damage). My brother-in-law got some nasty cuts on his back because he was shielding the rest of his family, but he’s OK. Their car is totaled, but they’re OK.
For hours, my wife and I kept watching Facebook updates and twitter feeds, and saw pictures and videos of various spots around Joplin that we know well and the after effects of the tornado.
At some point during the chaos I had to sit back and was just a little amazed at the wealth of up-to-date information that was readily available to me, and that I was able to connect with so many family and friends and find out who was safe, who lost their house, and who was in ICU within hours of the tornado hitting thanks to both Facebook and Twitter. If we had cable, we would have been glued to the Weather Channel or CNN or some other station and would never have learned as much about the things that we cared the most about. Even the live feed on the Weather Channel’s website only focused on one small section on the far West end of Joplin, away from the center of commerce.
Anyway, whenever a disaster strikes, somebody always comments on how social media has changed the way we connect to the world, so I’m just saying it again. And in this case, it has changed for the better. Without Facebook and Twitter there would be people that I still don’t know if they’re alive or not, but thanks to these media outlets I know that my friends and family are safe.
