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Facebook - The new lost & found update counter
Posted by JessicaKok
on
9:46 PM
Nayati is found! Saiful Samidi has
been returned home safe and sound!
Upon realizing the mighty influence
of social media – Facebook, many has sought solutions through sharing and
posting on Facebook. We can see that nowadays people depends heavily on Facebook
– to help find lost children, to help funding a poor baby with rare disease
etc, rescuing stray animals etc.
People believe what they see. That
is why Facebook is an ideal platform as its photo-sharing function is one of
the easiest, fastest and widest coverage worldwide. Just one click away from
spreading the news to the whole world (whole community the very least).
Information and news are spread like wildfire through photos and videos being
posted and shared around.
Let us look at the Nayati Shamelin
Moodliar case – where a 12-year old boy was kidnapped by a car on his way to
school near Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. Photos of him are all over the wall of
Facebook – there are detailed information just as who to contact, the car that
abducted him and the plate number of the cars … … People around regardless of
gender, ethnics and geographical boundaries are all concern of this little boy
and by sharing – more people are exposed to the news, which brings about a more
positive light in finding Nayati. Although in the end, it was the negotiation
with the police and the ransom being paid that have Nayati home safe and sound,
the photos on facebook has played a vital role as well – if Nayati’s photos has
not been published in Facebook, civilians may not recognized him when he was
released near Rawang – the place itself is not his very own comfort zone.
Because of the high recognition that he gained from Facebook, people could identify
him at first glance and lend a helping hand. The updated photos and videos of Nayati
thanking everyone has brought a broad smile on everyone face as well.
There is also a similar case of a
missing OKU, Saiful Samidi – the news of him missing and found are spread
through photos on our social media, particularly Facebook.
Click here to see
the news. The photos and videos are almost all first-hand, which is faster than
your night newspaper. I guess this explains why these social media are gaining
domination over our mainstream media.
Besides that, people are relying on
photo/ video sharing media to raise awareness and funding as well. When photos
or videos are being shared, much more people are being touched by. They offer
mental support. They offer financial support. They put their sympathy into
action. These are being interpreted as “social ties” in social media websites,
where the strong the social ties with the particular social media (the longer
time being spent), and the more frequent of interaction, social media are more
likely to influence the behaviour of the users ( Lundgren, R.E., McMakin, A.H.,
2009)
References
Lundgren, R.E., McMakin, A.H.,
(2009). Risk communication: A handbook
for communicating environmental, safety
and health risk. John Wiley & Sons Inc: Canada
