STORM UPDATE: The impact of social media

If you need more proof that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter play a major part in our culture today, here it is.

Facebook pages dedicated to the deadly tornado in Southwest Missouri have popped up on the social media site, offering guidance for residents seeking assistance and neighbors who were not affected by the storm and want to lend a helping hand and don't know where to start. In less than 24 hours, several of these pages have thousands and thousands of followers. 

If your market is ever faced with covering such a major story, remember to be the leader in your community by offering such services through your newspaper's websites and Facebook page.

In a major breaking news story such as a deadly tornado where the facts change nearly every hour, the website and digital reporting needs to be of top priority.

http://www.facebook.com/joplinmo

http://www.facebook.com/joplintornadoinfo

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joplin-Tornado-52211/174945472561745

There is also a Facebook page set up for page trying to locate loved ones.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joplin-people-accounted-for-after-the-storm/213004115400930

The community of Neosho, which is located 25 miles south of Joplin on Highway 71 and has experienced its share of tragedy in the past five years, has also started a page to help their neighbors to the north.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Neosho-Helping-Joplin/185610181488822

Twitter feeds are also exploding with news on the Joplin

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=joplin+tornado#q=joplin+tornado&hl=en&prmd=ivnsum&source=univ&tbm=mbl&sa=X&ei=E7zaTZavK-LV0QGHnan8Aw&ved=0CCsQ8QkoAzAA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=ccf8b764dbe41f7b&biw=1155&bih=913