[View the story "Joplin: A Storm of Tweets" on Storify ]Joplin: A Storm of Tweets As families continue to rely on social media to help locate loved one displaced by the Joplin tornado, are the decentralised efforts hindering success? Storified by The Stream · Wed, Oct 26 2011 21:59:43
The chaos in Joplin played out in interesting ways that would fascinate media theoreticians. With the disaster physically overwhelming phone lines and transportation disrupted due to devastation conditions, social media became a primary method of contact for survivors.fastcompany.com
Users on Twitter quickly uploaded devastating pictures of the impact to Twitpic and other services. For just one example, a Kansas-based Twitter user named @parismyloveff uploaded pictures of the ruins of what used to be a local Home Depot and a Payless ShoeSource where two women disappeared.fastcompany.com
After Joplin Tornado, Social Media Helps Victims Piece Together Lives | Fast Companyimages.fastcompany.com
Users also turned to Facebook and YouTube to disseminate information shortly after the tornado hit.
First Person video of Joplin MO tornado 5/22/11izelsg
Within hours of the devastating storm — which killed more than 116 people and injured more than a thousand — at least four similar Facebook pages sprang up. A pair of pages created by concerned volunteers each attracted more than 3,000 “likes,” while the Globe’s page recorded more than 5,000. And all of the pages conveyed survivors and loved ones’ desperation.facebook.com
Fan photos from Joplin people accounted for after the stormajestream
Looking for my niece she is about 3-5yrs old her name is Ariean Meyer and her mothers name is Bunny i'm not sure of her last name all i know is she use to work at the DAV. I will take any information someone can give me please. With out Bunny's name they can't do anything and all i know is they are missing.<br>Holly Meyer
Looking for any info on Barry and Peggy Ford. Address 1702 S. St Louis. They are friends of mine, and looks like their home would have been in the path of the tornado. Thanks.Kerin Overturf
I'm looking for Ginger Wade? She worked at the hospital if anyone knows of her please let me know if you have heard from herNicole Long
I've started a spreadsheet of individuals still missing to help centralize the information. Please add people as they are searched for, and remove as found.Michael Fienen
While some people have found success from the social media efforts--
Kay Kay Robinson-Love has been found. She is alive. Praise..Praise. I work with one of her family members.<br>Leisa Franks
--Critics say the decentralised initiatives are not very effective.
It’s becoming common for so-called “family reunification” pages to appear on Facebook after natural disasters and other deadly events. After the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech, a student created a Facebook group called “I’m ok at VT.” More recently, such groups sprouted following last month’s Alabama tornadoes and the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.poynter.org
But while the sites have facilitated some happy reunions – and provided a compelling personal narrative of the disaster – some emergency management experts warn that the hastily created sites can also foster confusion, especially when so many spring up around the same disaster.poynter.org
“It’s not well coordinated,” said Jeannette Sutton, a sociologist who studies social media in disasters. “These kinds of sites are usually created by really well-intentioned people, but the people who are looking for someone have to search through a lot of different places to find information.”poynter.org
Are you relying on social media efforts to locate a family member in Joplin, Missouri? Share your sources with The Stream on Facebook and Twitter .
