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Facebook 'Safety Check' Lets Friends Know You're OK After a Major Disaster

Posted by timothy on from the mom-please-stop-the-prank-alerts dept.

rtoz (2530056) writes Facebook has launched a new Tool called "Safety Check." The Facebook Safety Check tool will notify your friends so that they know you're OK after a major disaster. In times of disaster or crisis, people turn to Facebook to check on loved ones and get updates. "During a major disaster, Safety Check will help you: Let friends and family know you're safe; Check on others in the affected area; Mark your friends as safe ... When the tool is activated after a natural disaster and if you're in the affected area, you'll receive a Facebook notification asking if you're safe. [Facebook] will determine your location by looking at the city you have listed in your profile, your last location if you've opted in to the Nearby Friends product, and the city where you are using the internet. ... If you're safe, you can select "I'm Safe" and a notification and News Feed story will be generated with your update. Your friends can also mark you as safe." More creepy, or more reassuring?

4 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Oh Noes by pipingguy · · Score: 5, Funny

    What if the disaster is that Facebook is down?

    1. Re:Oh Noes by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Funny

      What if the disaster is that Facebook is down?

      You have a strange definition of disaster, friend :-)

      Disaster:

      • 1. a sudden event, such as an accident or a natural catastrophe, that causes great damage or loss of life.
      • 2. denoting a genre of films that use natural or accidental catastrophe as the mainspring of plot and setting.
      • 3. an event or fact that has unfortunate consequences.

      The term you are looking for is "fortuitous"

      • 1. happening by accident or chance rather than design.
      • 2. happening by a lucky chance; fortunate.
      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  2. Re:yeah, going with not creepy. by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Funny

    and the ability to mark Grandma as okay even if her internet is down

    Neither RFC 1149 - IP over Avian Carriers nor RFC 2549 - IP over Avian Carriers with QoS protocol are implemented by my local carrier pigeon, you ignorant clod!

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  3. Re:Would sooner have a Dislike button than this by haruchai · · Score: 1, Funny

    You've got it backwards. With this low an ID, I get to post whatever I feel like. Otherwise, what's the point?

    --
    Pain is merely failure leaving the body