Social Media Helps Find Missing Family Member

A survivor of the Chilean earthquake was tracked down thanks to social media website Twitter.

In the aftermath of the devastating magnitude 8.8 earthquake, many areas near Santiago have been left without power and attempts to contact relatives by phone and email have been met with failure. Sheryl Breuker was amongst those trying to track down a relative. When other methods failed, Breuker made use of Twitter and sent out the following post:

“Any info on Maria Alicia Moya, please update http://tinyurl.com/yfjtzed or contact @kencamp or @sherylbreuker ASAP #chile #quake”

Others re-tweeted her post and she was contacted by a local, offering to help. Breuker passed on her sister-in-law’s address and he was able to go there to check on her. Within two hours, she was confirmed to be alive and well.

Breuker wrote:

“…my sister-in-law was in Santiago and we couldn’t find her. No text, no phones, nothing. We were able to make contact with locals using twitter search to follow hashtags and several people contacted us asking for details. One of the locals looked for, and FOUND my brothers wife, 2 hours after first contact. I am so thankful for social media, grateful to the power of networking and beyond ecstatic my sister-in-law was safe and her home intact.”

Once again, social media has proved to be an invaluable tool in more than mere advertising.

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