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Facebook Debuts 'Im Safe' Tool for Natural Disasters

Article Comments  4  

Oct 16, 2014, 7:10 AM   by Eric M. Zeman

Facebook recently announced Safety Check, a service allowing people affected by natural disasters and other situations to indicate they are all right. The service works automatically, to a certain degree. For example, if a natural disaster occurs, Facebook will create an event for that disaster, such as an earthquake or hurricane. All Facebook users in the affected area will receive an alert on their smartphone from Facebook asking if they are safe. Facebook will locate people and alert them based on what's listed as their home town, where they've marked themselves in the Friends Nearby tool, or the point from which they are accessing the internet. Options will allow Facebookers to tell Safety Check they are safe or aren't in the affected region. The tool will then generate a status update so that particular person's family and friends can see they are safe. People will be able to mark friends as safe, as well, and people will automatically receive updates from friends/family who've indicated they are safe. The service is free to use.

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tonyc1978

Oct 18, 2014, 11:18 AM

Finally a legit use!

Kudos for Facebook offering a legit use for the app. after the security fiasco they had over recording without permission. this is something i see being a HUGE plus.
crood

Oct 16, 2014, 9:50 AM

Because...

...cell phone coverage and internet work so well in the wake of a natural disaster.
That's worst case scenario. More often or not if a local tower went down, there is bound to be others that can pick up your signal. In the event of a disaster, it's easier to send one message to FB than having to do multiple phone calls/texts to frien...
(continues)
That's exactly the point and the reason why they developed this.

While physical damage to infrastructure can cause problems, the vast majority of problems encountered during a natural disaster aren't due to that at all. The major thing that tends ...
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