Using Blogs and Wikis for International Collective Action : Disaster Response to the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004

On December 26, 2004, a major tsunami hit several countries in South and Southeast Asia. The magnitude of the disaster across the entire region was of a scale that had not been experienced for many years. Among the range of responses which developed, one was an entirely on-line effort. A small group of bloggers in India spearheaded the creation of a blog, later transformed into a wiki, that for a few weeks became a major international clearinghouse for people around the world interested in providing assistance to the victims of the tsunami across the affected region. People from around the world started sending messages on what they knew, what they had, who needed what, what was needed where. The effort was so successful that within a week of its creation, the blog Tsunami Help was among the top ten humanitarian websites visited in the world, just behind the United Nations, Reuters AlertNet, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. The blog, consisted of entries from people on the ground who could report what they saw happening, of information on who needed help, how best to help, in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other affected areas. While the case is recent, enough time has passed to see the after effects of the activists' participation. Through examining the blog, the wiki, associated texts in email groups, and interviews with a dozen participants in India, Bahrain, United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, a picture emerges of how to understand technology's impact on civil society