Japan - Social Media and How To Help - CNN

Here is information from CNN segment this evening.

How social networking is being used to stay in touch.

One bit of good news is that Japan's Internet has remained resilient allowing for vital communication to stay in tact. We know from 2006 Taiwanese earthquakes that underwater cables were heavily damaged and cut off a majority of internet communications. With that said many are flooding to social media to stay connected or to get reconnected. Facebook and Skype remain powerful means but also of course Twitter continues to see major trending receiving thousands of tweets per second.

And just an hour after the quake when cell services were spotty at best Twitter was experiencing 1200 tweets posted every minute from Tokyo (according Mashable via Tweet-o-Meter). This is an interesting site that shows you in real-time how many tweets are coming from popular regions.

Google is also a great resource that has been working around the clock to offer assistance.

CNN's Josh Levs has touched on some of these resources earlier:

Google launched People Finder which from this morning to today 72k to 123k+ records. You can either look for an individual or provide information on an someone. One has to hope that the word keeps spreading on this and it stays as one central resource for locating individuals.

Google has also launched YouTube’s Citizen Tube within hours. Sharing some of the most compelling video.

And evidence of worldwide interest can also be seen through Google Trends. This is a tool through Google (just type google.com/trends) to see the top trends being searched at any time. Japan has consistently been in the top ten with multiple searches.

Ways to donate via social networking and online.

Better Business Bureau warns to be cautious and also do your homework before making any donations via text, social networking or online.

I completely realize this is a time where you want to give and do anything you can but dont blindly through your money out there or text a contribution even if its $5 or $10. (Think about what this totals when multiplied by tens and thousands of individuals.)

It's really important to understand where your donations are going, is that organization actually on the ground aiding and assisting, what are the organizations administrative and program expenses? What is their track history with past donations in areas of relief?

One site I recommend to check out is Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator breaks down and rates every reputable organization.

For example, Doctors Without Borders is listed on Charity Navigator and is highly received on the site. They are on the ground doing assessment and giving updates to their work on the ground. *Full disclosure my sister my sister works at Doctors Without Borders.

TweetoMeter picture courtesy of Mashable.com