There are many uses for social media. Some common uses include networking with other business professionals and friends, crisis control, promoting products or events and conducting research. A new use for social media that China has taken advantage of is reuniting families.
According to an article on The Observer, around 190 children are abducted every day in China. If this were as huge a problem in the United States as it is in China, our government would be forced to recognize the problem and take steps to resolve it. Except no one in China is acknowledging it, especially the government.
The main reason for the government ignoring the issue is because of the root of the problem--the One Child Policy. Many of the abductions are of young boys. This is because boys are such a valuable necessity to carry on the family name and the ability to have as many children as a family wants is so restricted.
However, the citiziens of China have taken the problem into their own hands. Although blogs and social media are closely monitored by the government, families whose children have been taken are using micro blogs and the Chinese version of Twitter, Weibo, to get their children back.
According to an article on The Observer, around 190 children are abducted every day in China. If this were as huge a problem in the United States as it is in China, our government would be forced to recognize the problem and take steps to resolve it. Except no one in China is acknowledging it, especially the government.
The main reason for the government ignoring the issue is because of the root of the problem--the One Child Policy. Many of the abductions are of young boys. This is because boys are such a valuable necessity to carry on the family name and the ability to have as many children as a family wants is so restricted.
However, the citiziens of China have taken the problem into their own hands. Although blogs and social media are closely monitored by the government, families whose children have been taken are using micro blogs and the Chinese version of Twitter, Weibo, to get their children back.
According to an article on voanews.com , the use of social media has resulted in 6 children being returned to their families.
One father, Peng Gaofeng, was reunited with his son who was abducted three years ago. Gaofeng started a blog and posted pictures of his son on Weibo in hopes that someone, somewhere had seen him.
What seemed like a long shot for Gaofeng, resulted in an emotional reunion. His posts were seen by a journalist, Deng Fei, who re-posted the pictures to his 100,000 followers on Weibo. During the Chinese New Year, one of Fei's readers contacted him telling him he had seen the boy on the other side of the country. The police were contacted and Gaofeng and his son were reunited.
It is evident that the uses of social media are endlessly positive, and it will keep evolving as people find new needs to solve problems others may ignore.
By Lauren Ely
To view the reunion of Peng Gaofeng with his son go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uD6g8vaYHM.
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