Archive for the ‘Twitter’ Category
Interesting way to use Twitter during disasters
In New Orleans, blogs become crucial decision-making tool
Bloggers said their fascination with the possibilities of using online networks to track the storm and help others was fueled by new technology available to them as well as lingering frustration over the response to Hurricane Katrina three years ago.
Kali Akuno, an education and training coordinator with the U.S. Human Rights Network, was part of a group along the Gulf Coast reaching out to African-American bloggers to help resettle hundreds of people displaced as they evacuated ahead of Hurricane Gustav.
Online followers as far away as Oregon, Washington and Rhode Island extended offers of hospitality, Akuno said. The group had already placed 150 people, and was looking to find shelter for 200 more who contacted it in New Orleans.
“People are definitely responding,” Akuno said. “The main thing we learned from three years ago was the importance of staying in contact with each other.”
