Kerala floods: Twitterati puts out 2.62 million tweets during deluge

Kerala witnessed one of the biggest natural disaster when it rained down in the state and led to massive flooding. However, when it poured in the state, a lot of people took to Twitter to find out what was happening with the hashtag #Keralafloods.

In a new stat shared by Twitter, more than 2.62 million tweets were shared across India and around the world. The micro-blogging platform notes that the conversations continue to flow, even though it has stopped raining in the state. The state, referred to as God’s own country, witnessed the worst flooding in 100 years and tens of thousands are still living in relief camps. The state is still working on the process of recuperating from the loss and damage caused by the floods and Twitter served as the platform for updates.

When the going gets tough you don’t wait for super heroes, you become one #KeralaFishermen pic.twitter.com/1FrcPtK8RX

— Porinju Veliyath (@porinju) August 20, 2018

The company says that the service was used for everything from sharing important updates, to calling for donations and to call for help. It was also the platform that celebrated a number of unsung heroes during the flooding, especially fishermen who took their boats and led the rescue efforts from the front. The platform continues to offer updates on latest happening in the state and serves as one stop shop for sharing updates.

While Twitter was mostly used for constructive communication during Kerala floods, there were instances when false news were spread through the platform. The company now asks its users not to spread unverified messages received via social media platforms or through private group chats. It has also identified key accounts for verified users who can give accurate updates on the situation.

#Update #KeralaFloods2018 Indian Army has made 13 temporary bridges to reconnect 38 remote areas, total of 3627 personnels have been rescued till date, including 22 foreign nationals. #OpMadad #KeralaFloodRelief @PIB_India @SpokespersonMoD @HQ_IDS_India pic.twitter.com/Or2e03YdUC

— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) August 18, 2018

We are happy to share that we have crossed INR 30 Crore in contributions in under 4 days, from over 12 lakh Paytm users for #KeralaFloodRelief 🙏

Let’s keep going.#IndiaForKerala 🇮🇳

— Paytm (@Paytm) August 20, 2018

As we rightly praise the great rescue efforts of our uniformed personnel, let’s also salute the selfless courage of fishermen who themselves don’t have much food or money but are saving the lives of others by coming to the rescue in their own boats. Unsung heroes! #KeralaFloods

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 18, 2018

It says after a rescue or relief tweet has been addressed, it would be a good practice to “Retweet your own Tweet with an update” saying the situation has been addressed. The right hashtags for the situation is #Keralafloods and #RebuildKerala and the most important thing is to not spread false information.

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