SOME of you might be like me, and
find it hard to understand why there
are people out there who aren’t so
keen to accept social media and recognise
its usefulness. Granted, some of us are more
tech savvy and find it easier to get acquainted
with new technologies. After all, if you
think about it, the current generation of
teenagers has never lived in a world without
the Internet.
There are many reasons, however, for
people to be sceptical about social media. At
the moment, tools like Facebook and Twitter
all seem like a fad.
Then, there are others who are just
uncomfortable with technology, and try to
rely on it as little as possible. Everytime I
encounter doubters like this, I try to take the
time to talk to them about the benefits of
the Internet and social media, hoping to
convince them to join in the fun.
Of course, those of us who are active
users know that it’s not all games.
On Monday night, news of a fire in the
heart of Kuala Lumpur first broke on
Twitter. There were a couple of tweets on
my Twitter stream about a fire, but the location
was unknown. Because of this, no one
could immediately confirm much, until a
Twitpic (picture attached to a tweet) was
posted by a user who lives on the top floor
of a building just outside the city centre.
Slowly, via Twitter, the pieces came
together and the fire was confirmed to be at
Jalan Tun Sambanthan in KL.
On a larger scale, social media is proving
to be a useful tool in the aftermath of the
Haiti earthquake. Just minutes after the 7.0
magnitude earthquake hit, social media sites
were abuzz with updates and calls for help.
People thousands of miles from Haiti
were mobilising efforts to help the victims,
including collecting aid money.
Across the globe, good Samaritans, including
Hollywood celebrities (check out Sharm
On The Scene on page 8), have come together
to rally donations to support humanitarian
efforts there.
Technology is one of the major tools of
fundraising. At one point, The American Red
Cross reported that almost a quarter of the
money that poured in over the first few
days came from text messages. In this
system, people who wanted to donate US$5
(RM17.50) or US$10 (RM35) could text to
specific numbers and the amount would be
charged to their phone bills.
Meanwhile, Facebook created a Global
Disaster Relief page to spread news about
what was happening as well as point generous
visitors to authentic fundraising efforts
on the Internet.
Using Facebook’s Causes application,
Oxfam in the United States reported that it
has raised over US$100,000 (RM350,000) for
earthquake victims.
These are only two instances in which
social media has proven to be an effective
tool for spreading information and bringing
people together.
It will take a while before everyone jumps
onboard, and look at using social networking
tools in their lives. After all, social media
is flexible and malleable, and there are
many ways to use it. Find the best use for
yourself, and let yourself be “converted” if
you’re not on board already.
*FTW stands for “for the win”, in Internet
slang.