TWITTER ON THE WORLD STAGE
not specifically mention Ushahidi’s crowdsourcing platform, it is clear she was referring to it as it was the only interactive mapping platform at the time. ‘And on Monday – she continued – a seven-year-old girl and two women were pulled from the rubble of a collapsed supermarket by an American search-and-rescue team after they sent a text message calling for help.’
In October 2010, a CNN article[53] suggested how a standardized syntax for post-disaster communications was starting to emerge based on Twitter hashtag conventions – for example, a tweet containing #country #specific-location #name (or @name) and #need would help spot the request right away and map it onto a Ushahidi map. ‘The tags make it easier for computers and people to find the information they’re looking for, and categorize it, quickly’, John Sutter – aka @jdsutter – wrote mentioning Project EPIC, from the University of Colorado, and its short guide to tweeting after a disaster. 51
TWITTER FOR DIPLOMATS
The following is a Ushahidi map of Port-of-Prince after the earthquake. Red dots show people and relief workers requesting help via Twitter, text messages, and e-mails.