Twitter helps raise millions for Haiti

The Haitian earthquake on January 12 may be one of the worst in the last several decades in terms of the number of people killed, but it may also go down in history as a natural calamity where social networking played a vital role in the rescue and relief efforts. In less than 24 hours of the earthquake, Twitter and Facebook helped raise millions for the homeless and the injured people of Haiti.

The earthquake was massive - 7.0 on the Richter scale, with at least three million affected and unofficial estimates placing the number of deaths at close to one lakh.

In no time, Haitians and foreigners in Haiti uploaded thousands of photographs on Twitter using third-party applications such Twitpic.com and Tweetphoto.com to raise awareness of the extent of destruction caused by the earthquake. In fact, messages on Twitter and Facebook asking people to donate to the International Red Cross Society created such a buzz that the nonprofit body raised $5 million (approximately Rs 23 crore) in about 24 hours and at the time of going to press, more money was being generated.

Haitians who survived used Facebook's status updates to tell their families and friends abroad that they were safe.

Since both Facebook and Twitter are available on the cell phone, updating became so easy that Facebook had to block Haitians from repeating their status messages. On Twitter, too, the messages kept pouring in - every minute, close to 1,000 messages were being posted on Friday, three days after the earthquake. Close to 5,000 messages were being posted every minute on January 13.

NGOs too got into the act - both to raise awareness as well as money for rehabilitation, medicines and other essentials such as tents to build makeshift homes. CBM, the UK-based NGO which works for the disabled and is one of the largest such organisations in the world, started a Twitter campaign to treat those Haitians who were rendered disabled as well as those who already had a physical disability and therefore were unable to fend for themselves after losing their loved ones.

Google uploaded its own donation page and used its Twitter account to publicise the fact. Google currently has tieups with UNICEF and CARE where people can donate using the Google Checkout ecommerce application.

Indians on Twitter began their own hash tag T4H (short for Twitteristan for Haiti). Led by the Mumbai- based Twitterer b50 (who also calls himself the Bombay Addict), the T4H hash tag became a buzzword on Friday after he exhorted Indians to donate online to the relief and rehabilitation efforts. Unfortunately very few people donated using those links which took people to the American Red Cross site or the Google donation page.

New Delhi based blogger Ravi Kapoor wrote on his Twitter timeline: "I hope the rich & famous take note of Haiti & donate generously. This is the time to put your wealth to some good use. (I) Donated for Haiti 2 days back, but never tweeted about it. When it comes to charity, I prefer keeping a low profile. (A) Silent act." Says Delhi-based communication consultant Surekha Pillai: "The wonderful thing about such efforts on Twitter is that they truly leverage the power of collective communities without putting 'pressure' on any one single individual. Social networking need not be just about networking alone. It could also be a powerful tool of giving back to society. All it needs is a little initiative from people like @ b50." Apple began its own donation page on iTunes, the download service for the music player as well as the smartphone. An Apple fansite called iphonesavior.com, said: "iTunes users can donate $5, $10, $ 25, $ 50, $100, and $200 increments. Funds will be deducted the same way as buying music, apps and movies.

The idea makes it simple for anyone to reach out a helping hand to the people of Haiti. I would expect "an app for that" to follow sooner than later. A free Red Cross app already exists; it's designed to inform users of International Red Cross efforts through updated news feeds, which includes Haiti."

Courtesy: Mail Today