Chile, earthquake, and, Social, Network, Sites, (SNS)

A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck on Chile 27 February, killing at least 723 people. The quake hit some 325 kilometers southwest of the capital, Santiago, at a depth of 35 kilometres. The epicentre was 115 kilometres from Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city, where more than 200,000 people live. The US Pacific Tsunami warnings issued covered all Pacific nations, including South America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand.

There were no immediate reports of major damage from any media except Social Media such as Google, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace and facebook.  The social media have even been providing some considerable services such as person finder, current status of place where the earthquake hit, gathering of articles, video clips and photos and charities you can donate to.

Impressively, Google provides “Person Finder: Chile Earthquake” (http://www.google.com/relief/chileearthquake/) to help people find their missing loved ones or report any relevant information they may have about any missing people. This service is available in two languages, English and Spanish. The page is currently tracking about  54,400 records.

facebook also provides various services in relation to Chile earthquake as below. Note that “People Finder” in facebook just links to Google’s Person Finder page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/CHILE-EARTHQUAKE/332757224548?v=wall). 

Amazingly, Twitter delivered Chile earthquake news to people for the very first time, which was faster than any other media. Instant text and photos on Twitter from people’s mobile phones on the spot achieved much faster response and displayed vivid images in real time.   

(http://twitter.com/nytimes/chile-earthquake) 

The implication is that Social Networking Sites (SNS) are becoming more integrated with mobile/cell phone features and they are moving toward “real time interaction based social networking”. In the near future SNS could be integrated with GPS, web cam and phones and then one of the key services will be all the relevant (or customised) information about people on your social network will be delivered to your mobile phone. For example, when you are waiting for your friend, your mobile via SNS tells you where he or she is now and when they will arrive by analysing variables such as weather and traffic conditions.