Article By: Spencer Creasy and Susan Black
Social media has proven to have negative and positive effects on one’s life. Negative implying threats, bullying, hackers, credit theft, etc. The positive side being that someone’s life is saved. After reading this article by MNN, I have linked a few stories to how technology has saved the lives involved. Everyone uses technology, whether it’s using a tablet, smartphone, laptop, wearable devices, etc. All of these devices can impact a person’s life and allow them to live more efficiently and help everyone be safe.
Biker Crashes in Woods and Tweets for Help
Leigh Fazzina was a 36 year old, competing in a mini-triathlon in June of 2010. Unfortunately, she was separated from the rest of the competitors when her front wheel hit tree roots, which shot her from bike. She was unaware of the area, wounded and didn’t have signal to call for help. She was lucky that Twitter was working and she was able to send a tweet saying: “I’ve had a serious injury and NEED Help! Can someone please call Winding Trails in Farmington, CT tell them I’m stuck bike crash in woods.”. Many calls were made in an effort to help this woman, and ambulances were dispatched to help her within minutes.
This proves the point that if technology is used correctly, then it can benefit the user. This woman was injured and unable to move around easy and using her phone (although she couldn’t use it to call) she was able to seek help via Twitter, a social media website. It’s a popular site, and is checked/updated a lot. This can help someone in distress because it can draw in attention and information that the authorities can use.
iPhone helps save an Earthquake survivor
Dan Woolley was in his homeland Haiti, Colorado Springs and a earthquake hit in 2010. Dan was trapped under rubble and it resulted with him having injures. He used the light of his iPhone’s camera look for a safe place to go to after his glasses broke. Dan also used his iphone application to learn how to treat his injuries. Dan was panicked about going into shock so he also used his phones alarm clock to keep him awake. Dan Woolley was rescued from an elevator shaft after about 65 hours.
Online Friends over Facebook
A distressed 16 year old male from Britain, sent a message via Facebook to a friend located in the United States. This message entailed that he was going to harm himself. Even though she was 3,400 miles away, the girl was worried and told her mother which called the police. Soon the British Embassy was contacted and made aware of the situation. A race was created to find the teeager before something bad happened to him, and after searching eight addresses he was found. He had overdosed on drugs, but was still conscious and okay after seeking treatment in the hospital.