Facebook has launched a new tool called “Safety Check” which claims to help its users to notify their friends and family that they are safe during or after natural disasters. Facebook’s tool, will be available worldwide to its 1.32 billion users on computers and mobile phones.
People already use facebook to check in at fancy restaurants or at some exotic places while they are on a vacation. But will Facebook’s “Safety Check” prove useful during natural calamities?
Safety Check was innovated out of a disaster message board that Facebook engineers created in 2011 after the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. Once users activate the tool, It will determine the location using the city they have listed themselves as a resident of, their last location they’ve shared or the city from where they are getting access to Internet. If they are in the area affected by the natural disaster, the tool will send them a notification asking if they’re safe. If they say Yes, their Facebook friends can heave a sigh of relief. A user can also tag other friends along with him, but in order for their friends to be notified they need to approve it first.
The loophole is that the tool has no option to say No. Is this something on which Facebook is working on? Or is ‘Safety Check’ just a safety check and can offer no help if you aren’t safe? Availability of the ‘No’ option would have been of great help to the Government. Authorities could have used the information to rescue them from areas which would otherwise stay hidden.
Facebook we really admire you for creating this simple and easy app but you could have provided us a little help along with it like emergency numbers to contact to, friends residing nearby, safer locations nearby, weather reports, etc.
