One of the best uses of social media has been its use before and after a natural disaster. Last year we saw how Twitter was able to spread the word about the earthquake in New Jersey. Today, with hurricane Sandy, we are able to see how government officials and media are able to inform their citizenry of the steps they are taking in each city and state. The use of social media by both periodicals and government officials make getting the word out much more efficient. This has most likely saved lives and kept many people calm as they are able to get the news.

Trend #1

Three recent trends make social media possible for alerting on disasters. The first is the increasing amount of the U.S. population that carry smart phones and/or tablets. The only problem has been the battery life on these devices makes them worthless after about a day unless they are recharged.

Trend #2

The second trend is Facebook and Twitter’s popularity and overwhelming market share. This makes it very easy to get the word out virally. Almost 90% of the U.S. population is on Facebook. So while not everyone might be following the same thing, the ability to share or RT gives the message a lot of legs quickly. How else can you inform an entire state that Halloween will be on Monday November 5th?

Trend #3

The third and final trend is cloud computing. Facebook, Twitter and all the other big sites use cloud computing to manage load. If the servers fail in one location due to a storm, earthquake or power outage; they can immediately be switched to points of presence that are not effected.

Like any good trend, there is usually a flip side. The ability for people to spread missinformation is also high. Legitimate news sources angd government agencies are still some of the best sources to follow to get the best information and shares from friends can always be taken with a grain of salt.

While we think of social media as a means of connecting friends, it is now one of the most efficient ways to spread information both locally and nationally about a natural disaster so people are kept informed, they leave their houses to avoid a storm like Sandy and can understand, even with their TV out, what is going on.