Mediaboss Marketing

The power of social networking sites is once again being demonstrated in the aftermath of the Oct. 15 earthquake that hit the Visayas.

Two accounts on Facebook namely Oplan Bangon Bohol and #Bangon SugBohol are instrumental in channeling relief to survivors in Bohol province.

Individual netizens have also been posting and re-posting information to hasten the delivery of aid.

They are also circulating digital posters with messages like Our churches may have have fallen but our faith is stronger.

Positive statements like this lift peoples spirits even as the ground continues to reel with aftershocks.

Sharing advisories when the earth shakes and right after a tremor is also a laudable act, but so is shooting down false information.

Case in point: The rumor circulating by text and social networks warning of an impending magnitude 8.0 earthquake caused pockets of panic.

What made it scary was the misleading attribution that the report came from TV 5 and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. (Phivolcs).

Cebu Daily News was barraged Sunday evening with passed-on text messages, and a re-post on CDNs Facebook page about it, along with the plea: Is this true?

Definitely not.

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Social media and disaster