Social Media, More Than A Movie

A couple of months ago I attended a well-worthwhile workshop on social media. Sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (Western Washington State), in a hands-on approach it dealt with what social media is, how to use it, what are its benefits, and what is its power. Yes, its power. What we learned, which was lots even for someone who spends far too much time on line, now from the past few weeks and especially the last few days seems too very benign.

Take the January insurgency in Egypt. Very well prepared and organized, following a very disciplined non-violent script, it saw the overthrow of a lengthy dictatorship, albeit still remaining under military rule. What oiled the movement making it actually work was the organizer's use of social media. Information moved throughout the revolution at lighting speed to hundreds of Egyptians. The protests and protestors were well coordinated. Egypt may well be the first example of a national (international?) revolution happening in real time and supported by Facebook.


Libya, where it seems the uprising may not have been as well planned, saw the government learning from Egypt and attempting, at least to some extent, to block internet activity.

Then this past Friday afternoon, Japan time, came first the magnitude-8.9 earthquake, followed almost immediately by the horrendous tsunamis with waves 23 feet (some reports say 30 feet) high, with the speed of a jumbo jet, racing inland as far as six mile, swallowing homes, cars, trees, boats and ships, people and anything else in their path. And now the loss of life and home and land just, just starting to emerge as aftershocks, nuclear plan failures, and the inevitable risk of disease continue to grow.


Amidst all this incomprehensible horror, social media again came into its own potential. Twitter quickly became the go-to service in the emergency, and its use was immediate and intense. Less than an hour after the quake and tsunamis, with the country's phone system knocked out, the number of Tweets coming from Tokyo were topping 1,200 per minute. Here on our own West Coast Twitter users learned of the disaster late Thursday night and were quickly sharing reports, prayers, and video streams. Twitter users were also announcing the tsunami's estimated time of arrival on U.S. shores - - even before an official government tsunami warning went into effect. (The waves were expected to hit Hawaii first, at roughly 3:00 A.M. local time; Skype provided visual assurance. YouTube gave real-time footage, and even set up a dedicated page just for videos of the disaster. Now families are using Facebook and Google to contact relatives and friends in Japan.

And there are , without doubt, many more stories and example.

Throughout the world people not just witnessed, but in a very real sense, experienced the tragedy via social media. Non-governmental relief agencies, as well as churches, within hours, if not minutes, provided us with avenues to help, primarily posting ways of contributing money, and giving us a means of immediate engagement.


Immediate, real-time, is today's reality, with even national newscast bordering on obsolescence in a world where even one hour ago is history.

NDB station 46006,
 600 NM west of Eureka CA

A sidebar for we mariners. As the tsunami moved east across the Pacific you could monitor the wave via the National Data Buoy Center site, especially as it approached the shallow continental shelf off Southwestern Washington state and Crescent City, California.


Yes, social media has power well beyond the casual, oft times sophomoric chatter, that tends to clutter my screen. Like it or not, it really is a new day for many of us.


All of us living on this West Coast, atop our very own geological faults, need to remember that what has happened, and what is happening in Japan, could and probably will be our own experience.

And in this vein, I wonder how we might respond, not just to the disaster itself, but more importantly in the aftermath? Marnie Hunter in an op-ed yesterday on CNN entitled  "Orderly Disaster Reaction In Line with Deep Cultural Roots." raises some critical observations.


But for now, please keep the thousands and thousands of Japanese who are missing, who are dead, who morn, who are homeless, who suffer both in body and mind, in your thoughts and prayers.