Why the Global Community is truly a Community

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Why the Global Community is truly a Community.

The ability for the Internet to connect/find people after disasters is unmatched. What have you

been impressed with the most? The use of Twitter as a real-time news curator? Video feeds

from disaster zones? How has the web made you appreciate your global brothers and sisters,

and where do you see it going next?

This is such a major topic I feel that I have to just concentrate on one aspect of the assignment or it will end up becoming a novel. So I’ve decided to focus on the disaster aspect of the question. I think we all realise that cell phones are becoming more and more valuable to our lives; they can provide us with talk, text and internet access. Mobiles can also allow us to access social networking sites and be our lifeline during and after an emergency.

Many people carry smart phones that enable access to the Internet this can be a disaster lifeline. Standard mobile phones are also helpful, but it’s the Internet access that’s just as important as the ability to make calls. The Internet offers weather updates, condition reports and quick communication channels. If you didn’t have an operating phone you’d need to find someone who does. If this isn’t possible, try and get to wherever a large group of people have gathered because you’ll need information just as much as you need food, water and shelter.

If you don’t have the ability to charge your phone, try and use it sparingly, and save battery power by using social media. This is where having a smart phone with Internet access becomes essential. By using social media, you’re able to stay in contact with quick messages or make a post on Twitter or your Facebook page. It can be done quickly via smart phone and to conserve power you can turn off the phone and check the post for replies later. In seconds, you’ll have reached more people than you could in several minutes of calling. You also won’t need to keep the phone on for people to get in touch with you. This preserves battery life.

Just a few days after the Haiti earthquake, the Emergency Information Service (EIS) was able to direct injured Haitians via text message to one of the few hospitals that were able to treat patients. The service also helped search-and-rescue teams to find people trapped in the rubble. In one case, a man trapped for five days in a collapsed building in downtown Port-au-Prince sent a text message, which the EIS team, working through the night with experts around the world, translated his GPS coordinates. A search-and-rescue team was dispatched and saved his life.

In addition to receiving critical news and information, Haitians could send text messages free of charge into the system. This ensured a stream of on-the-ground information which was valuable to aid groups. EIS had received 10,000 text messages from Haitians, all translated into English and geo-tagged by hundreds of global volunteers who then alerted emergency services. When you see the world wide response to this disaster you realise why the Global Community is truly a Community.

But radio is still the most efficient way to reach a mass audience. That's why local broadcasters would be essential to help spread key information, often acting as a bridge between the international aid effort and local media. In the aftermath of the earthquake the U.S. military distributed 50,000 solar- and crank-powered radios in Port-au-Prince. 

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