Web 2.0 was used to good effect during the 2004 tsunami and the 2008 US Presidential election. But I think that its use has stepped up a level with the tragic Mumbai attacks.

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Wired gave an outline of how tweets, blogs, Flickr, Google Maps, and YouTube were harnessed by tech-savvy Indians to let everyone know what was happening. Yahoo! has longer reports [1] [2] on how they are doing this.

Not only is this a very good example of how citizen journalism might work, the Yahoo! articles also highlight how the Web 2.0 users are self-policing and raising awareness. At least one blogger urged tweeters to do so responsibly. One blog urged people to donate blood. Bloggers and tweeters passed on information online when the phonelines got clogged.

It’s social activism and an example of the ground-up nature of Web 2.0 at its best!