White Paper Praises Social Media as Indispensable After Quake

Japan’s annual white paper on information and communications, released on Aug. 8, praised “social media” for having been indispensable in communities hit hardest by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.

The White Paper on Information and Communications in Japan, issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, said that many local newspapers in the quake-hit areas had delivered news reports and information linked to community living via social media including Twitter, blogs and social network services. In many disaster-hit areas, ordinary communications via newspapers and television were disrupted.

The government report admitted however, that only a limited number of residents were able to fully use the Internet and social media, emphasizing a need to develop easier-to-use devices and services that could extend access to social media to the elderly and others who are not generally technology-savvy.

According to the report, the Fukushima Mimpo, the publisher of the largest daily newspaper in Fukushima Prefecture, opened Twitter accounts just after the tsunami. In just two days, those Twitter accounts attracted 6,600 followers.

The number of followers on the Twitter accounts of the Ibaraki Shimbun, a local newspaper in Ibaraki Prefecture, increased sevenfold from March 10 (the day before the catastrophe) through March 31. The Twitter accounts of Radio Fukushima, a local radio broadcaster in Fukushima City, showed a 50-fold increase in followers. Local administrations in quake areas logged a 10-fold increase in Twitter followers.

The white paper also noted the usefulness of community radio as a tool to deliver disaster-related information. In the four most-heavily affected prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki, a total of 16 community radio stations were newly opened to deliver disaster-related information.

The government report cited a survey on social media and information credibility. That survey found that 75.2 percent of respondents had used social networking services (SNS), 54.8 percent referred to blogs, 50 percent followed events on Twitter, 33.1 percent tracked Internet message boards, and 17.6 percent tracked community-based SNS. Over all age groups, personal computers ranked highest as the most popular device to access social media. But the younger the user, the more likely it was that they were using mobile phones or other portable terminals, the report said.

In rating various media as key information sources, the percentage of respondents citing newspapers plunged by a significant 9.0 points to 77.3 percent, compared to five years ago. The percentage of respondents who cited television was 94.4 percent (up 2.3 percentage points) and 61.4 percent cited the Internet (up 20.0 points).

Asked about media credibility, the highest credibility level of 72.7 percent (up 1.7 points) was reserved for newspapers, with television trailing at 63.3 percent (still up 9.4 points) and 28.9 percent placing their trust in the Internet (up 11.2 points). While newspapers still enjoy high public confidence, the Internet has functionally replaced newspapers as an “important” tool for hobbies and entertainment over the past five years and is now second only to television in that field, the report said.

As was the case with the previous year’s report, the white paper made an international comparison of progress in information and communications technologies, using 16 indices in eight categories to compare 30 advanced countries. The report ranked Japan third, after only South Korea and Sweden in overall progress.

But in using the Internet by sector, Japan ranked 12th among individuals and is 7th for industry. Japan ranked 23rd in governmental use, leading to a suggestion that it step up its Internet use for administrative jobs.

<< back