Tsunami disaster and modern communication

Presenting information in different ways:

• Scrolls were set up along the bottom of the Sky News channel to display messages from worried relatives and survivors
• Specialist blogs were set up immediately so people could reassure others they were ok
• Bulletin boards were used to let people know what was going on
• Webpages were set up so missing people could be located

Sharing information quickly:

• E-mails were sent to other people from survivors
• Text messages were able to be sent and received as almost all fixed-line local communications systems failed or were overwhelmed.
• Bulletin boards relayed information instantly
• Blogs also instantly displayed information
• Live television feeds kept everybody updated

Greater interaction between individuals and organisations:

• Organisations set up webpages so individuals with missing relatives could try and locate them
• The BBC News website received 30,000 emails related to the disaster the day after it happened
• Sky news set up a ticker on its TV Channel to relay messages sent by text and email about the disaster

Virtual communities, where people are bought together via the internet

• A sweedish boy aged 2 was reunited with his aunty after she recognised his face on a webpage
• In a story carried by BBC news, Survivors were sending emails from an internet cafe in Thailand to reassure people at home they were alive and well.
• Hundreds of families logged on to internet bulletin boards to try and find backpackers missing in South-East Asia.

During the aftermath of this disaster modern communication services were used rather than older ones because they are alot faster and more reliable. A large ammount of todays communication methods are wireless so the Tsunami didn't have a direct effect on these. Messages could be sent and received instantly, phonecalls could be made and information was posted all over the internet immediately. All of the services used were very effective in informing relatives and the public instantly. The only service that was a let down was the fixed-line local systems as the sea washed them away or malfunctioned there computer systems.