How social media is boosting aid to the Philippines

On November 8, the world watched on helplessly as Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines. The death rate has reached over 10,000 and it has rendered 9.5 million people homeless. This wide spread physical destruction is hard to watch; when we consider the citizens of the Philippines were left without even basic amenities, it makes us ask what can be done to help. Many major charities stepped up and put forward their aid and manpower to get supplies to the country. Incredibly, these charities (Red Cross, NetHope etc.) teamed up with social media to get wider awareness. Having the intention of reaching the public on a bigger scale and hoping to gain more support.

As always, donations are being asked of anyone who can spare it, and this time social media have stepped in to help out. Facebook teamed up with the international aid charity Red Cross to help their appeal. As you can see above, when logging into Facebook you will have been given the option to donate to this cause. Twitter did the same, but to help the cause NetHope.

And they are not the only online companies to do this. Viber (top communication app) also offered the option to donate when opening the app. No doubt countless others also promoted this ethic and rightly so, it is a just cause and it is arguable that these social media companies have a responsibility to do this.

Being able to reach billions 24/7 is a powerful tool and one that, in this case, has been used to promote charity. Red Cross have managed to raise over £5 million, and the number is rising.

Although, I feel some people who are continue givers to charity may see this as a little lazy and possibly a time consuming approach. But this is purely speculation; charities are renowned generally as being pro active and progressive.

Billions of people log into their Facebook and Twitter accounts every day, sadly not everyone checks the daily news. I know this sounds shocking, but it is true. Putting this news under our noses feels like a dynamic and useful way for charities to get the help they need on an extremely large scale.

Both Twitter and Facebook, as seen in the images, give a little information on the cause and then a familiar and safe option to donate. This is giving people the opportunity to donate anything they can at the touch of a button, from anywhere.

The actual figures have not been calculated but no doubt this has been helpful on any scale. It has given the charities wide spread exposure and as we all know, any donation is a good donation.

NetHelp and Red Cross are still sending aid and although the tool bars have been taken down from the social media sites now, the option is still available online.

We hope that this has encouraged a broader and higher amount of people to donate in support of getting aid to the people and areas who need it most. No doubt, this is something that will continue in to the future.

It has been a little while but through this we have seen the giants of social media as human again; rather than corporate moguls. They certainly are giving us the view that social media and new technology can be used for a good cause, and I hope for this to continue.

How do you feel about charity being combined with social media?

Faye Cannon

Faye Cannon is Content Writer for Social Media Frontiers Ltd. Having an academic background in English and Creative Writing, she now blogs for SMF about the latest trends and social media topics.

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