Hats Off To Our WhatsApp Warriors
By Hilmy Ahamed –May 22, 2016
The floods in Sri Lanka have brought out the best in social media. Whatsapp and Facebook were used extensively to save lives and mobilize relief. An unprecedented initiative indeed, in this age when parents are concerned about the negative impact of social media on their children. Facebook in fact had initiated a post that confirmed the safety of Facebook members and or whether needed any support. Our own “PICK ME” service included boat rescue, a service provided free of charge by the Navy to evacuate stranded people. The value of Internet and communication technologies was showcased to its best in this time of disaster. With more mobile phones than our population, there is hope that these technologies could be further used in disaster management, education and development.
Rescue and relief operations were undertaken by individuals and groups, using WhatsApp including directing rescue boats to save lives. Thousands of rice parcels were directed to the needy using this modern wonder. Messages from groups included total strangers offering to reload mobile phone credit of volunteers in the field, confirming the importance of these social media phenomena.
Broadcast media, as usual came forward to support relief and were able to mobilize collection of mass scale relief supplies, but it is the social media that was in the forefront in providing immediate relief and saving lives.
Sri Lankans as a people are generous. We heard wonderful stories of even beggars emptying shelves of supermarkets of food and other relief items using their savings in support of the Tsunami victims in the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004.
