For example, an hour after the quake hit Japan, Online Social Media, which tracks social media services, reported that Twitter was experiencing 1,200 tweets posted every minute. For most of that day, eight or nine of Twitter's top 10 Trending were directly related to the earthquake and tsunami.

The social networking sites also became lifelines for people during the massive and in .

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at or subscribe to . Her e-mail address is .

in Computerworld's Web 2.0 and Web Apps Topic Center.