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ocial media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, have dramatically changed the way we communicate with each other in our daily lives, so much so that sometimes it’s the only form of communication that we use.

In fact, it was only a few weeks ago that a friend complained it was too last minute to attend an upcoming party because she had never received the invite and had made other plans. Unfortunately for her, the invitation was only posted on Facebook, and she is one of the few people who still don’t have an account. Gone are the days for posting out invitations, sending an email, or picking up the phone to let friends know what’s going on; more and more, social media is becoming the preferred mode of communication.

As their popularity grew, Facebook and other social media networks became a widely-debated topic in the workplace, whether it be about banning employees from using them or about promoting their use in the workplace. Now, however, it is normal business practice to have a Facebook and Twitter

account as a way of promoting the organization’s services. Social media has become less of a fashion for youth and more of a widely-accepted mode of communication within the community.

It has become a much bigger phenomenon than I, for one, ever expected. One way that this is apparent is in its newly-recognized role within disaster management and recovery.

This year has been a record-breaking year for natural disasters around the world with the earthquake in New Zealand; the Queensland foods and cyclone in Australia; the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan; and the volcano eruption in Chile. In addition to these natural disasters, there have been shootings in Arizona in the U.S. and Utoya in Norway, not to mention the recent London riots.

This is only a few of the natural disasters and events that authorities, emergency services, and the general public have been dealing with over the past eight months, and social media has played a part in every one of them.