Social media & Haiti

Posted At : January 15, 2010 11:16 AM | Posted By : Andy Beaupre
Related Categories: Crisis Management,Social Media,Commentary,News

Thanks to social media, the word got out of ravaged Haiti immediately, people mobilized and money was raised instantly.

While this isn’t the first time it’s been a vital link in a crisis, it’s invigorating how social media has woven itself into the fabric of traditional media.

There was a time, not long ago, when major news organizations relied primarily on its own news gatherers to shape the story. Now an increasing number of media is open to – and relying on – citizen journalists to tell their tales.

With buildings crumbled, roads blocked, power out and land-lines dead, mainstream U.S. media relied heavily – especially on Tuesday and early Wednesday - on testimony accumulated from social media from

Haitians and Americans. Cell phones, satellite broadband systems and Skype worked. Twitterfeeds provided a real time view of what was unfolding. Blogs like Troy Livesay’s and Carel Pedre got the word out. Images were sent on Twitpic, Facebook and Flickr. YouTube had hundreds of videos posted by Wednesday.

CNN is the poster child of this blending of social media and traditional news gathering. While they reportedly have at least seven reporters on the ground in Haiti, they’ve filed highly compelling stories constructed from social media sources. Check out “What we’re hearing via social media.” 80% of this story is shaped by attributed quotes from Twitter users and bloggers in Haiti. CNN’s citizen-filmed iReports spread the word in a personal way.

Meanwhile, organizations like Red Cross leveraged their presence on Facebook, Twitter, and their own blog to communicate. Their 90999 mobile “insta campaign” is urging cell phone users to text the message “Haiti” to that number to make an instant $10 donation. Twitter users retweeted #HelpHaiti.

Many other organizations got involved and sent out their own fund raising tweets. Daily Finance reported that $5 million has been raised so far via text messages.

Citizen journalists are re-shaping the news business. Social media is no longer an adolescent finding its way; it’s become deeply embedded, viable and in instances like Haiti, a fresh, objective, needed voice shaping the story. It’s a reinvention of media – an improvement of media - that’s deeper, wider, more personal and much more real time.

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Cool post. Another aspect of social media being a possible help is on-the-ground in Haiti. I was thinking Apple or RIM or Nokia or Microsoft could donate thousands of devices and offer free service or set up stations where people could communicate. I'm sure there are hashtags now for aidworkers on the ground, but I haven't seen any coverage about twitter making it easier to find survivors, etc. Probably low amount of users in Haiti to begin with, but it could quickly change and be major pr for these types of companies. Whadya think?

# Posted By Brian DeKoning | 1/28/10 11:22 AM

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