Japan Earthquake

This week in WaW, the earthquake in Japan is our focus as it draws the attention of the planet. This link, WaW - Week 9, will take one there.

Here are some initial questions/issues raised on the WaW site.

What's being covered in each? How is that coverage being responded to? Are the videos and images too dramatic for response? What characterizes social responses in this situation?

Twitter is well-suited as broadcast medium in these kinds of situations. But what can we find out about what it's like on the ground in Japan? How do we go about it? (what hash tags are active, and how do we filter out the noise? what is noise in this situation? How do we find who to follow?) What do we gain? What's missing? How do we respond?

The press covers feeds

* International Business Times
* Social Media Resources - Poynter

BBC Feed
A mainstream feed shows characteristics of social media with an updating stream of collected posts on the left. Live and recorded video on the right, and local navigation leads to more traditional broadcast journalism.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

Twitter feeds

Q: How do we find an informative stream?

#japan on twitter

http://twitter.com/stevenagata
http://twitter.com/tokyotimes
twitpic with comments

YouTube
YouTube w/commerical
YouTube tsunami, discussion, and links to related videos
discussion and video responses

Google

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=japan+earthquake&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8



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And, we are off. I knew nothing about this earthquake of March 11. Again - I am apparently the odd-one-out here. I would not consider a social media site as a satisfactory news/information source. I knew nothing about the quake because, at the time of the quake I was doing some work using social media sites. I only had everything I needed to learn about the event since I knew nothing whatsoever.

My initial thoughts were that I needed to play "catch-up" quickly and as efficiently as possible. I chose the BBC link/feed. I assumed that it would be a place that would have stories on hand to describe what happened on March 11th. They had too much information. Each site had too much information. I soon realized that this expedition would typify one of the aspects of social media I see as an obstacle. There IS too much noise. There IS too much bullshit through which I must wade in order to find the legitimate sources and the info I seek. This is why I would not consider social media to be a viable news source for what I want to know. I do not have the time to wade through the crap to find the useful. Social media has created a tsunami of its own as a response to the tsunami on March 11th. I chose the BBC feed because it appeared to me to be the most like a news center and the least like a chat room. Social media has created a tsunami of its own as a response to the tsunami on March 11th. (And there it is…one of those core issues I have with social media - time. Time is precious these days. There is so much to do and so little time with which to do it. No - this is not whining. This is ID'ing an issue I have with using social media. It is notable and it is something I need to address).

Thirty people could have started at the same site on which I started and they each could have noted a unique, one-of-a-kind experience as they moved through the many sites available. Twitter, as far a I was concerned, was out. One-hundred-and-forty word blips about all of this would be inefficient……to be continued……what the hell, exactly am I addressing? —of COURSE a couple of images came to mind….with some fleshing out….and they say a great deal of what I saw/experienced. I will try to make them real.

More later…..

(Personal note….my own condition definitely dipped and almost plummeted. A bit of back-story — in order to avoid any type of medical crisis such as the one in which I find myself, I applied for some medical assistance last October/November. When my kidney failure was diagnosed in January, I immediately RE-applied and made note of the new diagnosis and of how imperative it was for me to get some help. If I run out of these catheters, I am in deep trouble. They stalled my application at the state level. Why? THey knew that the legislation was changing and my application would then be re-processed at the county level. So, they sat on their asses and sat on my application. Now - I broke a tooth dining at Wally's. I broke it BIG time. I have done my best to keep it clean and brushed and flossed as I wait for my coverage to come through so I can have it repaired or extracted. Now - it is infected, my jaw is infected, and my body has hit a wall. I have not felt this sick. Not in my life. Never. I wait. I spent the last of my own money on the last box of caths. Now, I wait. I started a course of antibiotics, and they buy me some time. They will do nothing to clear up this infection - they will only slow the spread. How is it that this 'system' fails to process a simple request for medical coverage within a five-month time frame??)

Now….other work…..these images, if I can get them completed, must wait a bit. I need rest and I need to do other coursework.




Reworking Week 9:

Twitter. I checked out Twitter. I did a search using "Japan Earthquake." I found an almost endless list - not a realistic endeavor to wade through. I checked out some "People Results." One entitled "earthquakejapan" had information on predicting earthquakes in California! Pass. Seth MacFarlane educated me as to what an asshole he is by using the earthquake as the basis for an attempt at humor. I saw a LOT of options regarding "helping," "donating," and advertisements that promised that a certain percentage of profits would go to earthquake relief. I gave it a shot. Truly. I do not see Twitter offering me any info or news. I do not know which "people" are legitimate and which ones are not. At least I got a feel for what was covered here in order to address that question.

YouTube - In my opinion, the footage was dramatic. When the events being filmed include a hellish earthquake that claimed the lives of thousands upon thousands of people, and a tsunami that obliterated everything and everyone in its path, it would impossible to not have dramatic and violent footage. Obviously, some of it was done for the sake of drama. There are those who want to legitimately and accurately bring the news, and there are those whose only goal is to bring the headlines. One group that caught my eye has headquarters in Moscow, London and New York. They seemed cool and polished in what I saw of their work in covering the earthquake, and in my opinion, everything they contributed was geared toward grabbing viewers. They had a sort of pseudo-panel discussion/ interview session called CrossTalk. It seemed to be modeled after something like "Point/Counterpoint" or even "Meet the Press." I believe they hoped this would lend credibility to their presentation. The topic, of course, was Japan and the devastation of the earthquake(s). I found the title, "CrossTalk: Japan's Agony," to be cold and impersonal. Who sits and "discusses" the AGONY of another - of an entire nation who have lost thousands and thousands of lives? The panel and the discussion was, in fact, cold and impersonal. The RT group did go through some effort and expense to package up their "CrossTalk" with some tight graphics.

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RT offered headlines that were intended to grab the attention of those who were looking for the excitement and chaos that would surround a natural disaster of this magnitude. "New Dramatic Video: Tsunami wave crashes…"; "Running from Tsunami…"; "Japan Earthquake: Helicopter aerial view video of giant tsunami…."; and, other examples promising the viewer even more devastation.

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Their other headlines promised a "Nuclear thriller." What is thrilling about a very real possibility of a nuclear catastrophe? RT went on to describe the nuclear crisis as being "Chernobyl on Steroids." My favorite was the headline that used a racial slur against the very people who were/are the victims of this nightmare, "Radioactive Kamikaze."

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The moral of the story? There is no moral. We are human. We tend to show our best and our worst in times of crisis. Social media offered a place or venue in which to do that. The community has changed. It is now at a global level. I saw examples of those who would exploit a disaster that brought unimaginable death, terror, suffering, loss, and pain. Others found ways to reach out and offer help through donations, cash contributions, and thoughts and prayers. Others found ways to communicate to try and communicate to the victims and to all people that they, the victims, were not alone. A community drew together. There was noise - a LOT of noise. I have discussed some of that noise. There was also something more, and that is something of which I must be mindful, for I am not good at the 'social' aspect of social media. Neither am I one who thinks in terms of 'community' or 'connectedness,' nor one who quickly recognizes the benefits of them. Much to learn.


Finished Product -

The Noise of an Earthquake

I put together something like 48 or so 'paintings' I did with the ArtRage software of my impression of the 'noise' on the Web that followed the earthquake. It was not, however, all noise. I hope I succeeded in describing what I saw through the images on different sites. I hope it will be evident that there is more than one thing going on as these images unfold. We will see…

I learned a great deal, and I worked my ass off. #en3177