Digital Life: New apps to rescue for Nepal earthquake victims
Paste BN columnist Steven Petrow offers advice about digital etiquette.
One of my most vivid memories of living in San Francisco were the earthquakes, especially the 1989 Loma Prieta temblor that took down part of the Bay Bridge. Tied to those memories are the frantic calls from my parents trying to locate me — to make sure that I was safe. Not surprisingly, the phone lines often went dead — either because of the heavy call volume or the lines themselves were damaged. As the disaster in Nepal continues to unfold, new services and apps are coming to the rescue.
Last year, Facebook unveiled its Safety Check feature, which allows users to "quickly find and connect with friends" in affected areas. Fortunately, the tool, now being heavily promoted, tells me that none of my friends are in Nepal currently. If I were in the devastated area I'd be able to "mark myself safe" so that my friends — and especially my parents — would know that I'm OK. According to Facebook, millions of users in the affected region have been marked as safe, with the news broadcast to tens of millions.
Meanwhile, Google's Person Finder tool has also been front and center this week, allowing users — both those seeking information as well as those raising their hands to say "I'm OK" — to enter names and photos into its massive database. Information currently is being collected in English, Hindi, and Nepali. As of Monday night, Google reported that it had more than 6,000 names entered into its database (although the company points out that it doesn't verify any of the information submitted).
To facilitate disaster relief, Apple is also coming to the rescue by allowing App Store customers to make donations to the American Red Cross through iTunes. Users can choose donation levels between $5 and $200.
Facebook also announced its own one-click means to help us donate to Nepal's disaster relief. Starting this morning, users now see a message at the very top of their news feeds with the option to make a donation to International Medical Corps, a non-profit that provides critical medical care and medicines. Once you donate, click to "Share" so that others will follow your lead.
Sure, we all grouse a lot about how tech is depersonalizing modern day life, not to mention invading our privacy. But sometimes tech comes to the rescue; this is one of those days.
Submit your question to Steven at stevenpetrow@earthlink.net. You can also follow Steven on Twitter: @StevenPetrow. Or like him on Facebook at facebook.com/stevenpetrow.