Online family of 16,000 shares grief
In previous posts, I’ve discussed some of the positive ways which the social media have been used to help people in need. None, however, may be as useful as what transpired after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti.
Although estimates of the death toll vary to this day, more than 300,000 perished in this disaster, according to the Haitian government early in 2011.
In the days and weeks after that country’s devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake, many people used social network sites like Facebook and Twitter to get information about the damage, try to connect with family and friends caught in the tragedy, and find the most effective charities to send money to.
A Chilean U.N. peacekeeper works in the rubble of the Hotel Montana searching for victims of the earthquake in Port-au-Prince. The desperate quest to find loved ones started just minutes after the quake, as cell phones rang unanswered from beneath the rubble of Haiti's best hotel. A few hours later the search went online with a Facebook page. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications at Facebook, told PCWorld Magazine the rush to social media was immediate.
Instant FB response
“Moments after the earthquake hit, we started seeing a response on Facebook. It was very organic. People were posting status messages about Haiti at about 1,500 per minute.”
Noyes added, “The big picture here is that Facebook and other social networking sites are offering a lifeline to Haiti that the Internet has never seen before. This is the first disaster of this magnitude where the Internet has played this big of a role.”
One Facebook page in particular, was created the day of the quake by a family to find a missing relative, believed lost in the collapse of Haiti’s five-star hotel, Hotel Montana. Today the page has more than 16,000 followers, many of whom have been using it for the same purpose and others using it to show support and find out how to help.
The page states its reason for existence: “Keeping the people of Haiti, and those who lost loved ones, in our thoughts and prayers.”
A gallery of grief
In addition to the page-after-page-after-page of posts, the site contains nearly 4,000 photos, most of them of family and loved ones lost in the earthquake and the hotel’s resulting collapse.
The site also hosts 57 different topical discussion groups, ranging from “How You Can Help Haiti Now,” to “Grief,” to many discussion pages for individual families who lost loved ones in the disaster.
Hotel Montana story
An especially gripping story about that Hotel Montana online family born out of the hotel’s rubble was written by Rukmini Callimachi, West Africa correspondent for the Associated Press. Callimachi went to Haiti three months after the quake to write a story about how survivors were coping.
Last week, Callimachi won the Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism writing Award for her article, “Haiti: Hotel Montana,” presented by the Journalism Department of Ball State University.
Writing on the wall of the “Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana” FB page, Callimachi wrote this week:
“Hello everyone. I’m Rukmini, and for several months last year I had the honor of getting to know you. On Wednesday night, I shared your story with students at Ball State University, some of whom wiped away tears as they listened to the journey all of you endured. It was hard for me to re-read the Haiti: Hotel Montana story and to remember your enormous loss … You are not forgotten.”
“Our hero”
Other friends felt compelled to comment on Callimachi on the same page. One wrote, “Our hero, Rukmini, made it back from the Ivory Coast and kept her appointment at Ball State after all. She’s continuing to tell the story of this amazing HM (Hotel Montana) family. Still here. Still grieving. Yet still filled with hope.”
Other posts on the Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana page show the intensity of feelings being expressed on this social media site, well over a year after the quake. Some of them also show the power that a journalist can have in telling a story like this to the world. Among the thousands of posts:
- “Hey HM family – almost bed time for me, and all I want to do right now is find the Haitian people who helped my brother survive the earthquake over a year ago and hug them.”
- “More than writing “about” this online family, Rukmini became “part” of this online family, and many of us are honored to have met her here.”
- “Hello everyone. Just wanted to let y’all know I’m thinking about you … This family is in my blood, and I have been blessed so much by it. As always, holding you in my heart.”
- “The earthquake in Japan has brought our emotions soaring high again. We miss Jim every day, but it’s been extra tough this month watching the news and seeing the devastation. A lot of us here know somewhat of they are going through.”
- (Stopping in to let my HM family know you are never far from my thoughts. I pray each of you is doing well and remembering the good times you shared with those you love.”
- “Love and prayers to my Hotel Montana family. Still taking things one day at a time. Praying for the people of Japan and all families affected by this terrible tragedy.”
It may well be that, in times of tragedy like those experienced by Haitians in 2010 and Japanese in 2011, these are the moments when the social media plays its most positive role in the world.
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Comments
Yes, I would definitely agree with the statement that in times of tragedy the social media has the potential to play its most positive role. However, though I hear many inspiring stories about the social media as a positive force in times of tragedy, I have yet to read something about the ways in which the social media also has the potential to become a destructive force during times of tragedy.
I think this example is a good representation of the Meaning Theory of communications. Social media allows us to “be in the moment” and experience the reality of the victims of the earthquake without ever meeting them or stepping foot in their country. Because of this mode of communication via various social media outlets, it helps shape or frame our definition of the disaster. It also leads us to form opinions one way than the other based on what is posted on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter accounts. What was also not mentioned was that social media is now allowing for more fundraising efforts. Concert telethons are evovling to instead of calling in with your pledge, you are able to text a code word for your pledge amount and pay through your AT&T phone bill.
There’s no doubt that social media can play a positive role in the wake of tragedy, but let me remind you that social networking sites are also effective mass communication vehicles for people with less-genuine motives—the scammers and the spammers.
One recent scheme was found on Facebook shortly after the Japan disaster, which sent out a link to video of a 24 foot Tsunami crashing a whale into a building—but instead it took you to a website that was nothing more than a vicious viral spam attack. Social media can be one of the best medicines for the emotionally wounded, but just remember to read the label before ingesting and consume all of the information in small doses.
I agree that social media has the potential to be the vehicle of negative motives. However, like the Free Press Theory suggests (and the Internet made even easier) people can disseminate any type of information they want, even if others don’t want to be exposed to it. People pick and choose the media they use, and getting your information from a newspaper eliminates your chances of obtaining a computer virus, whereas social media and Internet sources open up that possibility. We choose the media we use, so we should be aware of the shortcomings.
Social media has proven that different segments can still come together and offer support during crisis and non-crisis situations alike. Whether someone is selling concert tickets, looking for a handyman or grieving the loss of a loved one, social media is a powerful vehicle for instantaneous communication and support.
These stories really demonstrate how social media helps foster connections with people thousands of miles away – including people we don’t know personally. I think what’s most striking about social media in times of disaster is what comes before those connections are made. It’s the pure speed with which social media can deliver news. Thinking about the earthquakes in Chile and Japan, I first heard about both of these events on Facebook – not on the TV news. In the age of social media, traditional media can no longer win the race to be first. It will need to evolve and find a new place in our lives – for instance, as a place to get deeper analysis. In addition, social media is often first to deliver pictures and videos from a disaster. These visuals help us empathize with people who are affected, and that empathy ultimately leads to the connections you mention.
Even in today’s global media environment, reports of disasters in other countries (no matter how catastrophic) can seem distant. Unless you’ve been the victim of a similar tragedy it’s often hard to wrap your head around the statistics and remember that the victims are real people experiencing real physical and emotional pain. Even photojournalism, which can be key in putting a face on an issue, merely provides viewers with a passive experience. The power of social media is the way in which it allows users to interact with one another and to actively engage themselves in a story or cause. This blog gives a beautiful example of this: the Facebook page created by the family of one earthquake victim now provides thousands of other Facebook users with a way to learn about the victims on a more personal level and to find information about how they can help. Because “stories” found on social networking sites are generated by those personally affected by the disaster, they’re all the more potent.
I think it is amazing that a group or page on Facebook could have such an impact on others lives. Not only does it give support to those that have lost loved ones and are grieving, but it opens the eyes of those more fortunate to have our loved ones still in our lives. This page, and reading the comments on it, sparks empathy for the reader. It inspires others to reach out and make a difference, and to try and help those that are in pain and still suffering from lost. This page is a great example that when the social and mass media are used for positive reasons, the possibilities are endless.
The instantaneous ability to gather information thanks to Facebook is one of the major pros which can be attributed to social media. If something is to happen in the world, almost everyone in the world who is connected through social media has the ability to know about it moments after its occurrence. I remember hearing about Haiti almost immediately after its reoccurrence because of my addiction to Facebook, and how people have a general need to post almost anything that seems newsworthy.
Colin, You bring out an important point about how quickly we can hear of important happenings as the result of Facebook and Twitter.
Comm200 Response Post
Bryan Carson
this is an eye opening article. as much as people say “get a life and get off the internet” or “why dont you make some real friends”, internet sites and games can produce lasting and meaningful relationship between people. the great things is when people are genuine and caring on the internet, a medium where there is no penalty for being a jerk. i feel like on social networking sites and blogs and whatnot, you get to truly see the genuine side of people. the support that some of these pages have given in times of need is astounding and even though you may not know who the person is that is posting the wishes, it still helps to know someone said something about it anyway.