Twitter Changing the Face of HumankindNESS

Rosa Couto — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:40:00 GMT

One day after a catastrophic 7.0 earthquake crumbled Port Au Prince and devastated the lives of millions of Haitians, CNN.com reported that fundraising efforts by the American Red Cross and rapper Wyclef Jean were two of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter.

That same day, Digital.VentureBeat.com reported that the Red Cross had already raised more than $1,500,000 through their mobile donation program. The very next day the total was over $5,000,000 and you can bet it’s still growing rapidly. A social media manager for the Red Cross states, “It’s shattered any record that we’ve seen with mobile giving before.” I can picture a giant donation thermometer in the center of town with a guy running up a ladder painting an endless red stripe trying to keep up with the level of donations.

On January 12th, only a few hours after the earthquake struck, Red Cross tweeted, “You can text ‘HAITI’ to 09000 to donate $10 to the Red Cross relief efforts in #haiti.” With thumbs flying at lightning speed, Tweeters spread the plea for help like a wild fire out of control. Three days after the disaster, 5 of the top 10 most popular topics on Twitter were related to Haiti according to CNN.com.

The stream of donations is pouring in because we feel affected by this tragedy. So what if we’ve never been to Haiti. So what if we’ve never met anyone who comes from there. So what if we can’t stick a pin in its exact spot on the map. What we can see in an instant are the heart wrenching images taken over these past few days. What we can read immediately are the firsthand accounts being tweeted. What we can feel is compassion for the people who had it rough on the 11th of January but who now have it a whole lot rougher. Near or far, friend or stranger, today’s social media connects us to all of these people.

It amazes me how people can have thousands of followers on Twitter or thousands of facebook friends. Really, do you even know all those people? But, maybe it doesn’t even matter if your know them or not. In reality, being more connected to other humans, even in a non-human way, can truly increase humankindness. If you haven’t done so already, donate and retweet:

Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in #Haiti

Text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haiti

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Twitter Changing the Face of HumankindNESS