From her dining room table, Tammy Combs stays in touch with her family in Haiti.
Combs receives regular updates on Facebook from one of her brothers who stayed behind during a recent family trip to help after this month's earthquake.
On this day he asked his little sister to send him some Lowry's seasoning salt and a clean, collared shirt. Other updates include details too difficult to share as a tear rolls down Combs' cheek. But she said it always provides priceless comfort.
"It's our lifeline," she said. "It calms me to know I could just chat with them right now."
Facebook has also made a major difference for Pastor Charles Young and Bayside Community Church in Bradenton.
"Facebook has made a huge impact," he said. "Facebook, Twitter, social media has been a massive way of communication. I can get on my phone, on the computer and connect with them and we can have a conversation with them and say 'How are things going?' and just like that we can respond."
And Young did. When cell phones didn't work in Haiti, he used Facebook to connect with one family in dire need of fuel to run generators.
"And so through Facebook we were able to say we will bring 108 gallons of diesel," Young said.
Social media is helping to shorten the reach for relief organizations and families, plus it is carving out a critical disaster response role for what most folks sitting in their homes consider little more than a pastime.
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