Facebook helps tornado victims find lost items

29.04.2011
A graduation announcement. A page torn from a calendar, noting a father's birthday. Tattered pictures of children. An ultrasound image of an unborn baby.

These are just some of the documents that people have found after a devastating round of this week, killing 300 people. And many people have taken to Facebook to try to find the rightful owners of what could be precious photos and documents.

A has been created to help strangers try to return found items to their owners. As of 3:30 p.m. ET Friday, nearly 48,300 people had "liked" the page and many had already posted images of items they've found.

One woman posted a message on the page, saying, "So many people have lost so much... to gain back even 1 pic or document is a miracle!"

"The thing about social media is that it is just a capability, something that people will invent ways to use," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "Both and are non-intrusive broadcast media. You can shout your find, or your loss, from the rooftops, but no one has to listen unless and until they want to."

This isn't the first time that people have turned to social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, in the aftermath of tragedies. Just last month, countless users in Japan and around the world took to Twitter and Facebook to reach out to loved ones and tsunami hit the country on March. 11.