One reason why I think social medias are cool and one reason why I think they sometimes are not…

Hello!

Here in Japan we have started a three day weekend.  Monday is the spring equinox.  

I like my job but I am very happy that I do not have to go to the office on Monday. I am sure my friends up north are feeling the same way, but more intensely because of the power cuts and aftershocks they are still experiencing. 

Me? I’m just laaaaazyyy.

AND I got a few bottles of strawberry liquor to taste.

strawberry sake, strawberry liquor, strawberry wine all made from strawberries from the Kyushu island

Yes, I know, strawberries AGAIN.

(FYI, there are strawberry blogs out there!

http://www.strawberry-recipes.com/strawberry-recipes-blog.html

http://growing-strawberries.blogspot.com/

and this blog I found thanks to the Tattered Cover:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/?s=strawberries&submit=

had the greatest recipes for strawberries and other “stuff” too.)

So this is why I think blogs are cool….you find great people to “talk” with, great things to read, information you are looking for and with things like facebook, sometimes you even find long lost relatives!

Blogs, Facebook and twitter (and in Japan, Mixi) have become a place for many people here to connect with friends and family... especially during these devastating times.

The internet has helped to bring people together.  We have been able to change lives, be changed and learn about things we would otherwise be oblivious about.

I think this has given journalists a hard time these days… It’s harder for them because, unlike before, we might actually “know” someone from the area they are reporting from.

Now…we can see…right through them…sometimes. 

For example,

20 or 30 years ago, if you saw on the news that hundreds of Tokyoites were wearing masks because they were afraid of radiation, you might have believed them.  Gee, I might have believed them too!

Now, thanks to tons of great blogs (see my blog roll on the left) and well in this case…

me

we know a bit more about Japan(or at least we can find out if some things are leaning towards suspicious). 

Therefore, you would know that Tokyoites are wearing their masks, like many other people around Japan this time of year, because they have HAY FEVER. (Here is a post from a Japanese blogger in Tokyo about hay fever in Japan: http://www.hellotokyo.jp/2011/02/20/hay-fever-in-japan/.

As I do not want to reinvent the wheel, here is a wiki that someone has made to collect some of the most blatant mistakes in the news covering the Quake and Tsunami in Japan.

http://jpquake.wikispaces.com/Journalist+Wall+of+Shame

Apart from this I would also like to add that although there are many people at the airport trying to flee Japan, please keep in mind that it is SPRING VACATION and since schools are out till April, lots of people have been scheduling holidays overseas ANYWAY.  So that is probably why many people are having a hard time getting tickets out of here too… ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/anxious-foreigners-flee-japan/2011/03/15/ABrlvnW_story.html).

A friend of mine is going back to the UK this weekend to see his family…he had this planned BEFORE the earthquake…

Although I respect peoples' decisions to leave Japan right now (especially if you are not fluent in the language, have small children or if you are ill etc.) there are some people who are choosing to stay: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-im-not-fleeing-japan/2011/03/16/ABQsdhk_story.html

(Thank you K for the link!)

Like any type of information we get, I think it is important to learn how to process the information.  I mean, really think about what you are reading or hearing… I mean REALLY.  Just stop to think…sometimes…it helps. 

I know, I am preaching to the choir now……but now for the one reason why I don’t like the internet:

(eeek! I am about to tread on very thin ice…)

I found wacky comments about how Japan is not a religious country thus this tragedy was brought upon them (?!).  There are tons of stuff out there that wouldn’t have been “published” for everyone to see, hear or read if it weren’t so darn easy to use the internet…

I know I know I know I know I know I know ...

We are entitled to our own opinions and beliefs and in some parts of the world we actually have freedom of “speech”.

I just hope empathy will prevail. And you know what? 

I think it will. 

Look what I found...

SMILE!