The Role of Social Media in The Brussels Train Crash and other Tragedies

I’ve read about the earthquakes, the tsunamis and the other disasters and how social networks have been used to keep families and other informed about what is going on. Still, because I have been lucky enough to never know anyone in any of these catastrophes I never really understand how big of a difference they make. Until today…

This morning there was a train crash in Brussels, or actually outside of Brussels (But the initial reports in Sweden did not say so). The current numbers say that 18 people died and over 50 were injured. Because of this my phone started beeping with messages and calls from worried friends and family members who wanted to check if I was okay.

Therefore I put it in my Facebook status that everything was alright and that I was not in the crash. This was very appreciated by others who were concerned. My friends here in Brussels also did the same which gave me less to worry about.

With cell phones many might not find this necessary, but if someone of my Swedish friends did not have my Belgian number, because we mostly speak on Skype they did not have to worry, neither did those who had run out of credit on their phone and could not send me a text. For these and many other reasons the Facebook status update became invaluable.

Thus, now I really understand the importance of using social media to update my family that I’m ok!

But social media helped in other ways too, on Twitter people who were at spot of the accident uploaded pictures that people could follow to see what was going on. Most information was easily available on the hashtags #brussels and #traincrash.

Similar Posts:

None Found