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Since January 12, 2010 I have thought a lot about how much of an impact social media has had on the relief efforts of the horrible tragedy that occurred in Haiti 2 weeks ago.   I obsessively watched Wyclef’s Twitter page for updates and from Twitter to Facebook to BBM to Text, I was encouraged in a multitude of ways to donate to the Relief Funds.  There’s no doubt that the ease with which people are able to donate money is a Godsend and it certainly contributed to the over $50Million raised in the first few days after the earthquake.  An article in The Nation states that the disaster in Haiti proves the value of Social Media.  I’m not sure how many non-believers were left, but hopefully they were all depleted during the past 2 weeks.

The fact that communication, thoughts and opinions can be transferred in real time is an amazing and immense benefit to this world and I’m a huge advocate for how social media allows more and more people to get involved in global events.  However, in my opinion, nothing can truly replace the “traditional” actions that need to take place in order for some real and powerful changes to be made.   Social media is not a substitute for these actions, it can and should only serve as an aid.  I feel that the last few lines in this article written by Ben Parr in Mashable states it best:

“We have to be realistic, though: new media isn’t going to stop censorship, overthrow oppressive regimes, or heal the people of Haiti alone. Social media has transformed communication, media, and the transmission of information, but it still takes people on the ground to pull people out of the rubble or to fight for freedom.

Just as Paul Revere embarked on his midnight ride to warn that the British were coming, social media acts as both the first warning and the rallying cry for mobilization. In the end though, social media is just a collection of tools. It’s up to us, the people, to make the real impact on our world.”