Hurricane Sandy, the giant weather catastrophe, is a favorite topic of conversation on social media from Facebook to Twitter, as users post updates to friends and family. The Hurricane has been called by various names on the social media sites, like Frankenstorm, Stormpocalypse or just Sandy. Till Monday afternoon, Instagram, the mobile photo-sharing service owned by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), had 233,000 photos hashtag “Sandy”, while “Hurricane sandy,” had 100,000 photos and “Frankenstorm” had 20,000 and growing.
Over the weekend waiting for the storm, users posted photos of hurricane-preparedness supplies ranging from canned goods to board games and bottles of wine.
“There are now 10 pictures per second being posted with the hashtag “Sandy” most are images of people prepping for the storm and images of scenes outdoors, said Instagram CEO Kevin Systorm in an emailed statement. “I think this demonstrates how Instagram is quickly becoming a useful tool to see the world as it happens especially for important world events like this”.
According to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) Journalism Program Manager Vadim Lavrusik, following 10 words and phrases are the most posted by Facebook users over the past 24 hours and all are in one way or the other related to the Hurricane Sandy.
1. Sandy / hurricane / Hurricane Sandy
2. Stay safe / be safe
3. Storm
4. Weather
5. East coast
6. Power
7. my friends
8. cold
9. prayers / praying
10. wind / winds
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) uses a measurement tool called ‘talk meter’ used to point out the most talked topic. This tool ranks terms around a topic or event on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 for the most talked topic. Facebook reported that till Friday afternoon, storm related chatter was the most talked topic at 7.12, while the San Francisco Giants World Series win on Sunday night measured at 6.71 on Facebook.
On Twitter, Frankenstorm, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and New Jersey were the most talked topic. Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley reminded his more than 53,000 Twitter followers to “ALWAYS BE CHARGING”.
Brian Stelter of The New York Times tweeted “television crews in NYC are having a very hard time broadcasting. Some are being pulled off the streets by their bosses”.
In a tweet sent out Monday night, NBC reporter Ida Siegal ?noted that she was essentially stranded:
“Trapped in #batteryparkcity surrounded by flooded streets. Trying to find a way out now. Might have to abandon the truck,” she wrote.
Edelman NYC publicist Lauren Pavlick noted: “I feel like I’m in Venice. No longer streets, just rivers. Thankful apartment is on the second floor and we still have power”.
