More so than the glasses-free 3D gaming experience that the new Nintendo 3DS handheld game system provides, I think the social aspects that the 3DS brings are what makes it really revolutionary.

The video above just samples how Super Street Fighter IV takes advantage of the 3DS’ social gaming features, but think of other possibilities? This is taking Foursquare-type, location-based social “networks” and giving it a unique gaming spin. It’s great. Of course, I think this may probably be more fun in Japan where Nintendo handhelds are commonplace for everyone from kids to middle-aged businessmen (especially while riding the trains to and from home), but, hey, a nerdy Canadian boy can dream, right?

As Japan has floundered for two decades since its economic bubble burst — a postindustrial, high-tech society that had resigned itself to a slow, inexorable decline after the boom years of the 1980s — its young people have languished. The over-indulged and underemployed cohort has given rise to a dictionary’s worth of sociological neologisms: freeters, young Japanese who choose part-time, dead-end, low-paid work instead of striving for more fulfilling careers; hikikomori, anxious youth who have completely withdrawn from society, even locking themselves in their bedrooms for years at a time; herbivores, grazing, passive young men who care more about their looks than their careers; and parasite singles, young adults who, even if they have good jobs, live at home to avoid paying rent and rely on their parents for food and laundry so they can use their disposable income for frivolous purchases.

But as their nation tries to cope with the costliest natural disaster the world has ever seen, one that has left tens of thousands dead or missing and some 360,000 homeless, the country’s coddled youth are rising to meet a new era’s challenges. In unprecedented numbers, young Japanese have volunteered to help earthquake victims, bringing time, money and in some cases social-networking expertise that can reunite missing family members and coordinate aid efforts.

Just a small snippet from a great article by Hannah Beech for TIME Magazine on how Japan’s famously apathetic and directionless youth (even more so than North Americans, if you can believe it) are stepping up to the challenge brought on by the March 11th earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster fears.

A few months ago, I bought a book called Do Good Design: How Design Can Change Our World. This sprung from my desire to contribute to the world on a more meaningful level than, well, making websites for businesses. There is nothing wrong with creating these sites for commercial purposes, of course — our entire way of life relies of businesses to sell, after all. But every couple of months, my inner activist springs forward, telling me to do more, help more, give more.

I still haven’t found my own special way of contributing to a greater purpose just yet. Yes, I worked two years as the web and graphic design coordinator at a non-profit that helps new immigrants and refugees in Canada, but it was still very hard for me to see sometimes the direct effects of my work there. I always dream of coming up with something or doing something that would directly (and positively) contribute to a worthy cause, but still no idea what I can or should do. That’s why, with the earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region of Japan on March 11th, I was very impressed and inspired by how quickly and generously the international design community contributed their skills to relief efforts. There were many posters and prints designed with proceeds going to Japan, and many t-shirts designed to help give back as well. (Even Lady Gaga designed a livestrong-esque bracelet for Japan relief efforts.)

Through a message I saw on Twitter, I found out Takara Gallery, an online shop in Tokyo that sells goods by artists and designers, would be giving 50% of all of their online sales to earthquake relief until April 30th (and 10% of sales after that). All the stuff at Takara Gallery is amazing — I wish I could buy one of everything! But alas, I am not rich, and had to limit myself to a t-shirt and a hand towel. I’ve been sending messages back and forth with the owner of Takara Gallery now, and she’s a really nice person who genuinely wants to help in her own way.

It is really inspiring to come across all of these designers and artists who are doing what they can to give to Japan relief efforts. Japan, after all, is home to many of the world’s best designers and artists, so it’s natural for the art and design community in particular to want to help in some capacity. The tragic loss of life in Tohoku is unbelievable, and it’s shocking to learn about how people’s way of life (from food, electricity, water, gas) has been impacted all across the country. Of course, we don’t need to purchase and consume to donate, so if you can, please donate directly to the Canadian Red Cross or Second Harvest Japan.

About a month ago, there were rumours floating around the internet about the likelihood of Google or Facebook buying-out Twitter. The company today is supposedly valued at $10 billion dollars (BILLION!!!!111!).

Meanwhile, my non-Twitter-using friends really don’t get it. Why use Twitter? What is it good for? What value would Twitter give over Facebook, email, hundreds of other social networks and instant communication methods? Easy: instant worldwide information broadcasting. Unlike Facebook or email, people’s tweets are open to be read by anyone, and are even instantly indexed by Google. And as the unbelievable and tragic 9.0-magnitude earthquake in Japan has proven, this instant spread of information online is critical in times of crisis and emergency.

When the earthquake struck, phone networks were down for several hours. (Strangely, while phone networks went down, mobile internet networks were still operational.) People could not phone one another in Japan, worried friends and family overseas could not get through to loved ones in Japan (self included). Furthermore, people not close to tv’s had no way of knowing the actual devastation of the earthquake, where the epicentre was, where they should be going, what they should be doing. Enter: Twitter.

As soon as the quake struck, people in Japan were already tweeting about it. When the phone networks went down, tweets were being sent to announce to followers that the person in question was safe. Tweets were being sent to relay information to one another. Some found shelter after the earthquake because they tweeted that they had no way of getting home. That is the true value of Twitter and social networking. It’s not about posting photos of you and your friends making complete jackasses of yourself while drunk and dressed like prostitutes. It’s not about sharing funny cat photos. And it really is not about updating everyone about every time you have to go pee.

So, again, what is the value of Twitter? What is the point of Twitter? I think those tweets speak for themselves.