Yesterday, as the east coast was preparing for Hurricane Sandy’s landfall, FEMA sent out a few tweets suggesting that those affected by the storm refrain from making voice calls on their cellphones. Instead, FEMA suggested that people text or better yet post Facebook updates and tweets in order to let their loved ones know that they are ok. This way, less bandwidth would be tied up and everyone would have a better chance for their communications to get through.
Hurricane Sandy slammed into the coast Monday evening, and left a trail of destruction behind her. Areas in states like New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are still dealing with massive flooding, and residents are still coping with the inability to travel from place to place.
But according to Facebook, people seem to have taken FEMA’s advice. Facebook’s media page recently posted the 10 most-shared terms by Facebook users as of this morning, and “We are ok” tops the list.
Here’s the complete top 10:
- we are ok
- power – lost power, have power, no power
- damage
- hope everyone is ok
- trees
- made it
- safe
- thankful
- fine
- affected
As you can see, five of the top ten terms involve people letting other know they are alright. Social media has changed a lot of things in our world over the last decade, and this is just another example of that. In times of disaster, services like Facebook and Twitter can be a lifeline, and other services like Tumblr and Instagram can give us a window into the action as it happens.
[Lead Image Courtesy Doxella, Flickr]