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Facebook Helps Tornado Victims Find Lost Items
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People who have found items in the aftermath of the tornadoes that recently ripped through the southeastern United States are using Facebook to find the rightful owners.
A page has been set up to help strangers return photos, documents, and other items to their owners. The page has been "liked" by more than 48,000 users and many had posted images of items that they have found.
"The thing about social media is that it is just a capability, something that people will invent ways to use," says analyst Ezra Gottheil, who describes Facebook and Twitter as non-obtrusive broadcast media. "You can shout your find, or your loss, from the rooftops, but no one has to listen unless and until they want to," Gottheil says.
People also turned to social networking sites following the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March, and after the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti last year.
From Computerworld
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