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Nepal Earthquake: Facebook To Google, How Tech Is Helping Survivors Reach Out

Posted by samzenpus on from the safe-status-update dept.

An anonymous reader writes: In the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Nepal, many social media sites and mobile applications have come up with features that could help locate friends and loved ones. From the Times of India: "Social networking website Facebook, and Google's Person Finder have helped locate the whereabouts of those stranded in quake-hit areas. For instance, members of one Himmatramka family residing in Birgunj in Nepal marked themselves safe on Facebook. 'Our relatives back in India were worried about our safety. So, we marked ourselves safe to inform them,' said Nitesh Himmatramka.

39 comments

  1. Just be prudent although... by ls671 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just be prudent although, every catastrophe like this one bring along a bunch of people how are just trying to make a buck out of it. Don't get scammed.

    --
    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    1. Re:Just be prudent although... by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm not posting this AC, and will take the karma hit off need be.

      So with that, let me say that I hope you die of some horrible cancer that makes you smell like rancid cat shit, so awful that your own mother hopes you die, but you don't, and just linger on, more foul and corrupted with each passing day, becoming as vile and repugnant on the outside as you are on the inside.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:Just be prudent although... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Sounds like someone got scammed out a couple bucks by a porch monkey in a orange vest. You like in Baltimore, perhaps?

      Lets be frank. These dudes don't need your money. All they do with it is buy alcohol and beat their wives.

    3. Re:Just be prudent although... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Let's be frank, you're evil.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    4. Re:Just be prudent although... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Evil is trying to raise to the level of man when you are nothing more a DNA similar ape.

  2. First for new Google+ accounts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I heard rescue help is included in their new free Google+ account!!

  3. Where are the robots? by Iamthecheese · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Since Fukushima tens of companies have developed search and rescue robots. This would be the perfect time to deploy them for a field test.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    1. Re:Where are the robots? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The Transformers are currently having a small party inside the Fukushima reactor and are unavailable, sorry.

    2. Re:Where are the robots? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Newsflash: They don't work.

      It's all a scam, like the 'hydrogen economy' and corn-based ethanol (negative return on input energy).

  4. I suppose that helps... by tomhath · · Score: 2

    'Our relatives back in India were worried about our safety. So, we marked ourselves safe to inform them,'

    I would've sent them an email first. I suppose broadcasting on FB in addition to that could be useful but it wouldn't be my primary means of communication

    1. Re:I suppose that helps... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      similar thoughts here.

      but i go further and say this is nothing but pathetic and shameful "we are good and relevant to society" public relations advertising at the cost of a natural tragedy.

    2. Re:I suppose that helps... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I would've sent them an email first. I suppose broadcasting on FB in addition to that could be useful but it wouldn't be my primary means of communication

      You just dated yourself. It is mostly just people that are 30+ that still use email on any sort of a regular basis. It would be sort of like letting everyone know you are safe via telegraph.

    3. Re:I suppose that helps... by oodaloop · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If you have 2 friends, then emailing all both of them makes sense. When you have hundreds, making one small setting on FB and getting back to important stuff makes a little more sense.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    4. Re:I suppose that helps... by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 2

      Very, very few people have 'hundreds' of actual friends. Facebook 'friends', maybe. IOW, people you've never met.

    5. Re:I suppose that helps... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > It is mostly just people that are 30+ that still use email on any sort of a regular basis.

      Not if you work, have contracts and utilities, and interact with other people about stuff other than images of the hipster-targetting wild rice fast food chain you've just eaten at.

    6. Re:I suppose that helps... by Iamthecheese · · Score: 2

      There are some things about human contact that have lasted the ages. One of them is the need to directly communicate with each-other. Expecting your friends to visit a website on a regular basis if they want communication from you is inconsiderate, and that transcends generational boundaries. Sure it works with "friends" (who used to be known as acquaintances) but if you're trying to tell me the new generation doesn't actually have friends close enough for direct communication I'll call you disconnected from society at large.

      Whether it's "I'll tell the innkeeper if I need you, no need to darken my doorstep" as in days past or "Don't call me, I'll call you" as in pretentious modern Hollywood or "If you want news check my Facebook status" as in your intent, it's not some new wave, it's being too selfish to give the other person a moment's time.

      --
      If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    7. Re:I suppose that helps... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is mostly just people that are 30+ that still use email on any sort of a regular basis.

      or people that aren't stupid

      though Captcha is "retiree"

    8. Re:I suppose that helps... by tompaulco · · Score: 2

      You just dated yourself. It is mostly just people that are 30+ that still use email on any sort of a regular basis. It would be sort of like letting everyone know you are safe via telegraph.

      No, texting would be like letting everyone know you are safe via telegraph. Facebook would be like letting everyone know via a billboard that people may not drive by or pay attention to.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
  5. Re: How tech is helping by Snarky+McButtface · · Score: 0

    I don't know what your problem is with tech in women. Because of this tech, I get to drink lots of scotch while a machine does my job.

  6. Re: How tech is helping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I believe the problem is that there is no problem, but tech will solve it.

  7. Re:Obscene marketing again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, it is. Any 'help' page comes with a 'Login first' button. That's no 'help', but just another signup campaign.

  8. Re: How tech is helping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's an oversimplification, where the fault is in the reader, not in the reporting. There is no problem where tech will not be involved in the solution. Because that is the world we live in.

  9. Red Cross by BlueScreenO'Life · · Score: 2

    Red cross has a family links database. I wish Google and Facebook just linked to Red Cross, instead of launching each their own redundant person finder features.

    1. Re:Red Cross by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Honestly, my take is that this feature on Facebook / Google makes a lot of sense. How many people would think to first check the Red Cross website first (or specifically, the site you linked to, which I couldn't seem to find via the main site)? People are much more likely to *first* check Facebook to see if their family or friends have posted an update. These are social networks already in place, so why not use them for an important feature that's obviously "social" in nature?

      The Red Cross feature is fantastic for people who aren't already hooked up with Google or Facebook. But honestly, who wants to do that when they can click a single button on their already-used social network of choice, versus the battery of personal data you have to enter at the Red Cross? Consider the Facebook or Google feature as a first-line system. If a person doesn't mark themselves safe, family members can then register them as a missing person on the Red Cross site.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    2. Re:Red Cross by BlueScreenO'Life · · Score: 1

      While there is some overlap between "facebook friends" and actual friends, those groups are very different.

      The feature is convenient on FB and Google, but the problem is redundancy. They serve the same purpose, but they run different databases. Suppose a person in the disaster area who uses G+ frequently and FB rarely. They may never realize FB has the person finder feature, so they mark themselves as safe on G+ but not on FB, or vice-versa.

      That sort of confusion is avoided if only one website provides the feature.

    3. Re:Red Cross by Livius · · Score: 1

      How many people would think to first check the Red Cross website first

      To be honest, I would have expected the Red Cross to have more important things to do and I wouldn't want to bother them.

      Then again, I would have thought people in a disaster would have more important things to do than to go on Facebook.

    4. Re:Red Cross by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      Your friends and family would already know which social network you hang out on, and how to contact you. Think about it - what better way is there to use the same social network where you already are regularly in contact with each other? A completely different system used *only* during emergencies? That makes zero sense.

      Also, how do you figure real friends and family are somehow different from Facebook friends? You're suggesting that real-life friends and family don't use Facebook to keep in touch with each other? The data says otherwise.

      Anyhow, the fact that people are actually using these features to good effect sort of proves their value. Sorry, I just don't see it as anything but a good thing for social networks to have this system in place.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    5. Re:Red Cross by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      If you think about it, after a disaster, there's really nothing more important to family members than finding out if a loved one is okay or not as soon as possible. I think the point of this flag is just to obviously signal to everyone "I'm OK" with minimum fuss and bother, because for those in the danger zone, they very likely have other immediate pressing needs.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    6. Re:Red Cross by camperdave · · Score: 1

      By posting "I'm fine", they clearly were not "people in a disaster". However, they could have been a block or two away from the disaster and thought it important to let people know their status.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    7. Re:Red Cross by rvw · · Score: 1

      How many people would think to first check the Red Cross website first

      To be honest, I would have expected the Red Cross to have more important things to do and I wouldn't want to bother them.

      Then again, I would have thought people in a disaster would have more important things to do than to go on Facebook.

      The Red Cross is a big organisation. They probably have their own IT department, which is located somewhere in Europe or the US, or maybe even in India, but not on the location of the disaster. IT is essential to an organization like the RC, for themselves, but also for victims.

      One essential part of recovery from a disaster is stress release. If you know what happened to your family, that saves you from a lot of stress, the stress of uncertainty, even in the case that they are dead. If they are alive, you can contact them, and that helps them recover more easily. Social contact is essential.

      Facebook and Google could put a link to the RC website on top of their page for all people who login from Nepal, but better they should use their own site and create an API to the RC database, and sync data.

  10. Re:Obscene marketing again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They'll soon be flooded with advertisements on every page they visit for 'disaster preparedness' purchases (tents, dried food, etc), as well as ads for Indian homebuilders and the like.

  11. Let's mention the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team by mean+pun · · Score: 1

    It is worth mentioning the efforts of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team: http://hot.openstreetmap.org/u.... They don't pretend to solve the whole crisis, but they do try to make navigation in the area a little easier by providing accurate and recent mapping information. At least in earlier crises, the effort was appreciated by the people on the ground: http://www.redcross.org/news/a....

  12. Re:But you see...it's useless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google ads: "Wanna buy a cat?"