Twitter Throws Japan a Lifeline

The natural disaster that struck Japan in March of 2011 came with serious consequences — nearly 16,000 fatalities and upward of 2,800 people unaccounted for, at last count. Since then, the government of Japan has worked on disaster preparedness contingency plans in case of another massive earthquake. The country may have a little more help (outside of the Red Cross, that is). Twitter’s Tokyo team launched “Lifeline”, a feature that allows users in Japan to more easily locate Twitter accounts that deliver pertinent local information in the case of another disaster.