Internet as Lifeline

After September 11, 2001, a lot of people did not know if their loved ones had gotten out of the Twin Towers alive. Friends, relatives and others quickly tried to call the missing, and then hastily attached notes to lamp posts and bulletin boards in Lower Manhattan pleading for information about the persons they were unable to reach. A dozen years ago, that was the best method for tracking the missing.

Today, the Internet has a better answer. After the Boston Marathon bombings, cell phone traffic was brought to a standstill by the sheer mass of calls. But Facebook, Twitter and text messages got through. And instead of flyers tacked to walls, there are now online databases where survivors can post their status, and where worried relatives can check in. The Los Angeles Times reports. And at Glendale College, we now have the Alert U system.

Questions... •Do you have a family communications plan in case of a disaster?

•Do you know about GCC's "Alert U" service?

•Should Alert U be an opt-out or opt-in system?

•How should re reach relatives without web or text messaging access?