The tsunami in Asia gave us good examples of modern systems of communications being used for extremely important issues:

-presenting information in different ways
Some webpages, like the one set up by the Phuket International Hospital, had photographs of all its patients, to try to contact their families. Others, such as the "Thorn Tree travel forum" was simply a forum where people also tried to speak to their families. The BBC also put boards to find missing people

-sharing information quickly
This is an advantage of modern communications, as people back in Europe or America could know if someone was dead or injured, and some could speak to them via e-mail, just a few hours after the tsunami.

-greater interaction between individuals and organisations
Sky TV, a large company, also helped people wanting to know about their friends or family affected by the tsunami, and set up a ticker on its TV signal, to show messages sent by survivors of the disaster.

-virtual communities
Although being miles away from each other, survivors of the tsunami could talk to people at home in virtual communities, which had people from all around the world brought together via internet.

Modern communication services are better than older ones in these cases (and almost all situations). E-mails can be sent, getting immediately to their destination from miles away. As internet cables are put underground, they were not broken by the tsunami, so internet could still be used by the survivors. Sending information via normal mail would mean that it would take weeks for people in America to know about the tsunami. Telephones, which work via satellites were also used by survivors to get to talk to their families. But, as roads were cut by the tsunami, no newspapers or mail could be sent across Asia.