For the citizens of Haiti, real-time search may have arrived just in time. The 7.0 earthquake that shook the poverty-stricken nation hit just 5 hours ago, but you can easily find information about the disaster, and, most importantly organizations to donate to.
On each of the top four search engines, searching "Haiti relief" yielded extremely useful information. Google and Bing were the most comprehensive:
Haiti-related search terms were already included in query suggestion features on Google and Bing:
Meanwhile, on Twitter, Haiti is the top trending term.
Additionally, Twitter and Facebook users were encouraging each other to text "Yele" to 501501, which would donate $5 to Haiti relief. Yele is a nonprofit organization set up by Wycleaf Jean to promote education, arts, sports and the environment in Haiti.
Facebook groups are being formed to promote charitable donations for Haiti relief.
With all the spam and other unattractive content people can produce on the web, it's nice to see millions coming together to help a country that desperately needs assistance. Real-time search and social networks are making that happen faster and more comprehensively than ever.
By the way, here are a list of organizations to consider donating to for Haiti earthquake relief:
Red Cross
World Vision
Doctors Without Borders
Unicef
Mercy Corps
