May 13
2
As the tragedy at the Boston marathon unfolded, everyone who knew competitors in the race wanted to know the same things. Are my loved ones safe? How do I get in touch with them? Where are they? There are always more questions than answers as a tragedy takes place. As time goes on, these questions pose huge problems for both those concerned and authorities trying to communicate with the public. Addressing these questions is a prime example of how technology influences the way we deal with tragedy. Through the mobile network, smart phone technologies and social media platforms society has begun to shift how we source news and cope during extreme events. We’re no longer content to have information delivered to us. Instead we’re becoming the news source and using technology as a means to affect positive change more quickly and effectively than before.
Altruistic Applications
After the blasts, most runners were separated from their runner-bags and cell phones. Because the course was diverted, most people were not reunited with their possessions until a few days later. Understandably, panic spread as calls and messages from friends and family went unanswered. As a method of helping both competitors and their families, a Google People Finder application was enabled to re-connect families and provide the public information.
Broken into two sections, it was the most efficient method of ensuring a runner’s safety while the mobile phone network was overloaded. The Google People Finder was created after the Haiti earthquake in 2010 to reunite families and friends after disasters through the Internet.
As city transit was suspended, most runners were stuck in a foreign city without their wallets, cell-phones, or hotel keys. As the number of displaced runners mounted many Bostonians opened their homes to people who needed help. Thousands of residents added their names and contact information to online lists to offer assistance to complete strangers:
Through social media, this list and People Finder helps reunite and reassure families efficiently, but more importantly demonstrates the goodwill and decency of people especially in a time of crisis.
Social Media is now a Newsfeed
Until the recently no one questioned the process of how we got our news. For centuries, the public has relied on the media for information, pictures, and explanations of significant events around the world. It’s only in the last eight years that it has begun to change. For the first time, the concept of news-flow has been reversed; the people are now becoming the source of news and information, and the media frequently relies on social media to break stories.
It isn’t a perfect system. When Brown University student Sunil Tripathi went missing on March 16, he was falsely identified as the Boston bomber and instantly vilified, especially on news aggregates Reddit and 4Chan. A five-state manhunt ensued which was only suspended when the Tsarnaev brothers were properly identified. The popularity of the Internet has caused a polar shift for traditional media. The loss of significant advertising budgets, coupled with the competition of the Internet’s instantaneous nature has changed the scope how journalism is practiced. Fact checking seems to have gone by the wayside, often with disastrous results. Fox News even misidentified actress Zooey Deschanel as one of the suspects, presumably through a spell-check error.
While Deschanel eventually received an apology, Tripathi was not as lucky. Sadly, his body was recovered a week later. While the obvious mistakes were rectified as they hit the social networks, it’s more indicative of a burgeoning lack of accuracy in reported news, news outlets seem to favour speedy reporting rather than accuracy.
Crowdsourcing Justice
With an estimated 500,000 spectators, there was no shortage of pictures and video before the detonations. The Boston police appealed to the public to provide any images and video they had taken, and it proved to help identify the Tsarnaev brothers more quickly. Facebook user and marathon participant David Gren’s hi-res photo helped identify Dzhokhar better than official images or security footage could. When the manhunt extended into Watertown, police used social media to warn residents to stay inside. Residents in turn used social media to share with the public was happening in Watertown.
It was also an example of how social media benefits communities: by utilizing the most effective method of communicating with its public, Boston police were able to ensure residents were safe while they executed ground searches for the remaining suspect.
Despite the tragedy, the last few weeks have shown shining examples of humanity in a time of crisis. The citizens of Boston, through the use of technology, clearly demonstrated the better aspects of our society through their actions. Establishing a Google People Finder and opening their homes to strangers gave friends and relatives peace of mind about competitors’ safety. Crowdsourcing the news gave the world a new perspective on the aftermath of the explosions. Using social media to gather images and disseminate information became the quickest way to end the situation safely. But more importantly, it marked a shift in how technology shapes how society faces these situations, no longer individuals, but together.
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Jim Hedger
Jim Hedger is an organic SEO and digital marketing specialist. Jim has been involved in the online marketing industry since 1998 and a SEO since 1999. Best known as a broadcaster, interviewer, content writer and search industry commentator, Jim is a frequent conference speaker and organizer. He hosts the search focused radio show Webcology on WebmasterRadio.FM and is a WebmasterRadio.FM conference interviewer. Jim brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, passion and creative thinking to each project. Preferring a teamwork approach, Jim strives to inform and train his clients and their staff to run and maintain their own search and social media efforts.
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