Facebook is used to keep in contact with friends and family by sharing status updates, photos, messages, and whatnot. However Facebook can also be used to keep in touch with loved ones during emergencies where updating your status is a good way to let everyone whom you’re friends with to know that you’re alright.
Well Facebook is hoping to make it a little easier by rolling out a new feature called Safety Check. This new feature was announced by Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday afternoon in Tokyo. The goal of the feature is to help Facebook users quickly notify friends and family they’re alright in the event of an emergency.
For example when a natural disaster like an earthquake hits a particular location, based on your location as listed on your profile, Facebook will send you a notification asking if you are safe. From there other users will be able to check their list of Facebook friends who might be in the area to see if they have replied the notification to let them know they are safe.
Safety Check was originally designed by Facebook Japan in 2011 following the earthquake and tsunami. It was limited to Japanese users but was eventually picked up during a company hackathon and turned into an actual feature for everyone to use. It’s an intriguing idea, so what do you guys think?
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