Disaster Relief Shared on Twitter Not Helpful, Really!
Sharing disaster relief information using Twitter is an interesting experience. As I watch the streams go by, I can’t help but imagine, do people on the go see this or even know how to begin to use Twitter while fleeing a flood, wildfire or hurricane. This goes to the underlying opportunity and thus the one we are pouncing on like a cheetah on a gazelle.
People need to know location-specific information that is relevant while on the go. They need to have a section that points them directly to the Disaster Relief section that is relevant to the location in need; in this case Atlanta and Austell (the actual town where the FEMA Disaster Recovery Center is located).
People do not want to “search” Twitter streams to find vital information. What’s more, you could not find this information using Directory Assistance for $1.75 per call. You would get the number to FEMA and a recorded message. When you visit GoSeeDo on the web, you can access information to help you make a decision. Similar to Bing! Structured data has value when the context is aligned with what people need. This is our value proposition, because you cannot do this via Twitter or Bing or even Google for that matter; these services are simply not designed to meet mobile users context. Rather they are broad channels to help locate information, which is often out of date or contextually wrong.
The same capability you see will be available on our mobile optimized site starting in October 2009. We applied the latest best practices using Mobiforge to test our mobile pages and how they will render and the speed with which they will load. Our tests range from 4.40 to 4.8 out of a scale of 1 to 5. We are excited that our “mobile optimized site” will offer an example of the value of providing structured data to contextually relevant situations based on location in a user-friendly way that people will find pleasant, helpful and sensible. The cost is .99 cents per month.
Our big challenge is getting out the word about our service, so please check us out, join us, for less than a dollar and use the service then use your favorite tool to distribute or yell to the world about us.
