Glimpse of a Real Live San Diego Earthquake on Social Media

Posted by on Monday, June 14, 2010 · 12 Comments 

Duck and Cover? No way! Tweet  and post a Facebook update? This is our first instinct!

Another earthquake hit San Diego this evening and it’s evident that Social Media has revolutionized the entire earthquake experience. Rather than making sure we’re safe with the good ol’ “duck and cover” routine, the first thing on our minds was to socialize with others experiencing the earthquake and to make sure and let people know that we “definitely felt that one”.

I’ll admit that my first instinct upon feeling the earthquake was “I have to Tweet this!” I immediately pull up Twitter on my computer to find our good friend, Fail Whale. Next I decided to take a video and capture the action but the earthquake ended as soon as I started filming.

After failed attempts at posting a real time update during the earthquake, I’ve decided to show the world in images what an earthquake in San Diego really looks like.

Here are my observations on how Social Media plays a positive roll in alleviating the anxiety of a scary natural disaster:

- People feel a sense of community on Social Media. We know we’re not alone and feel a level of comfort to see others going through a similar experience.

- Foursquare adds a gaming feature to the earthquake which gives people a laugh. Even if you’re laughing at how ridiculous it is to check in to an earthquake, laughing is such a great remedy in any fearful situation.

- Social Media provides real time, live updates from the people actually experiencing the earthquake. Waiting for the news has a lag time, but now we’re are updated instantly and knowledge always provides a sense of security.

Did you experience the most recent San Diego Earthquake? If so, what did you do? Were you on Social Media? Please leave a comment and share your experience!

Filed under Events, Facebook, featured, Foursquare, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized · Tagged with , , , , , , ,

  • http://twitter.com/davidraho David Raho

    You might like to check out an app called USGS Seismic.

  • http://twitter.com/brant Brant Walker

    Earthquakes! Yeah!

  • http://www.philipodegard.com Philip Odegard

    Excellent documented write-up on social media usage during an earthquake. Really enjoyed this read.

  • http://www.philipodegard.com Philip Odegard

    Excellent documented write-up on social media usage during an earthquake. Really enjoyed this read.

  • http://www.meetusinghal.com/ Meetu Singhal

    Excellent blog post, Melodie! well thought , planned and timely executed!

  • MarketingMelodie

    Thanks Philip! Glad you enjoyed it!

  • MarketingMelodie

    Thanks Meetu! During the earthquake my mind was thinking, blog post!

  • http://twitter.com/MamarazziKnowsB Suzette Valle

    Great idea Melody!! Way to capture that evening's frustrations with Twitter and how dependent (addicted) we've become to social media.

    We had visitors from out of town, Mexico City, who are all too familiar with earthquakes when we were surprised to feel the 5.7 on Monday. Ater the initial shock of feeling the shaker, I ran to my computer to find out the basics: magnitud, epicenter, duration, damage, etc. This has been my first instinct since the Easter quake hit San Diego given TV news is never covering events in a as-it-happens format.

    It was a huge dissapointment to not be able to get real time info on Twitter, my social media outlet of choice, for up to the minute details. Facebook was the next best thing, but it might be my first recourse next time I need to get info on a current event.

  • http://twitter.com/TotesMcGotes Totes McGotes

    lol

    http://twitter.com/TotesMcGotes/status/16047352190

    Scary how everyone tweets during an earthquake. We are fked if the big one ever hits. Rather than run for shelter we start tweeting. WTF!?
    8:15 PM Jun 12th via Echofon
    Retweeted by 6 people

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  • Moonshinedesign

    Great read!

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