In the aftermath of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, much of what people are learning about the quake is coming from social media––with Twitter posts the leading source of discussion, followed by online video, blogs, and other online boards/forums, according to The Nielsen Company.
Though most online consumers rely on traditional media for coverage of the quake, they are turning to Twitter and blogs to share information, react to the situation and rally support. The American Red Cross Twitter account, which on average had been adding roughly 50-100 followers a day before the quake, has gained more than 10,000 followers since.
In addition, blog posts about Haiti's quake also make up nearly 3% of all blog posts at Nielsen's BlogPulse.com search engine.
The substantial and rapid growth of online discussions mirrors that of the Swine Flu/H1N1 epidemic. However, in contrast with the H1N1 blog activity, online discussions on the Haiti quake picked up immediately on Tuesday, January 12, when news began to spread.
In the days that followed the quake, news stories featuring the disaster dominated those cited by bloggers. On Wednesday, January 13, 6 of the top 10 news stories focused on the earthquake, as people used social media to spread information from traditional news sources.
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Mobile Giving Increases
As organizations conduct relief efforts, many have been using text messaging to raise funds: The Red Cross reported (via Twitter) on Friday, January 15, that donations received via Red Cross's 90999 text campaign had exceeded $8 million.
Over the weekend that followed the quake, mobile giving surpassed $16 million in donations across all short codes, managed by the Mobile Giving Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping other nonprofits raise funds through mobile technology.
