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Facebook Lets Users Prompt Danger Alert
Facebook's Safety Check is a handy service that allows people to let their friends and family know they are okay in an event of emergency. The social giant announced the next major step for this feature. From a BBC report: Facebook is to enable members to trigger its Safety Check service themselves if a dangerous event occurs near them. Until now, it could only be activated by Facebook staff. Safety Check lets people notify their friends and family that they are safe in the aftermath of a natural disaster or human conflict in their area. The recent earthquake in Italy marked the 25th time this year that it has been triggered. Safety notifications have reached one billion people in 2016 alone, the firm said. In the previous two years combined (2014 and 2015) it had only been activated 11 times. The Safety Check Facebook team uses three criteria to decide whether the tool should be switched on -- how many human lives are affected, the extent of that impact and the duration of the event.
I did not see the day coming where internet service was more available and easy to access than phone (wireless or landline) in a natural or Human disaster-type event. Just always assumed that if wireless telephony and landlines were out that there would be no internet connectivity possible, and no communication in general in that situation without ham radio operators or mobile comm stations.
It just seems weird. Don't get me wrong, I might be missing a big piece of something here, but it just doesn't seem feasible to be able to alert others of your well-being via 'net if there aren't general comms available.