New Facebook feature designed to help during disasters

Facebook isn’t just interested in where you are and what you’re doing. It also wants to know whether you’re safe.

The social media giant’s latest feature, Safety Check, will help Facebook users quickly alert their family and friends that they are safe after a natural disaster such as an earthquake or tsunami. Designed to work on the company’s mobile and desktop versions (including its Android and iOS apps), the feature also allows users to check their friends’ safety status.

“In times of disaster or crisis, people turn to Facebook to check on loved ones and get updates,” the company explained in a blog post. “It is in these moments that communication is most critical both for people in the affected areas and for their friends and families anxious for news.”

When in range of an unfolding disaster, Safety Check users will get a Facebook notification prompting them to report that they’re safe by tapping a button, or to say they’re not in the danger area. Pressing “I’m Safe” will post an update to friends via a Facebook status—which will presumably be given a high weight in the algorithm used to determine what news feed stories are displayed.

According to Tech Times, Marcy Scott Lynn, Facebook’s global policy programs manager, said the Safety Check feature is focused on sharing one type of status: “Yes, I’m fine.” Local authorities and experts will work with Facebook to determine which kinds of disasters merit a check-in. Additional features would enable users to check in for friends as well. If Facebook learns that a user is in a compromised area, the site will request a check-in from that user.

“We’ll 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,” Facebook said.

Inspiration for the Safety Check feature was born in March 2011 after Japan suffered a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake, and the tsunami that followed disabled the power supply and cooling capacity at three Fukushima Daiichi reactors on the coast. In the disaster’s aftermath, Facebook created a Disaster Message Board to help users in Japan connect with family and friends. The short-lived disaster messaging tool has now developed into an entirely new and improved product, which appears to focus on natural disasters but could also by used in other crises, like terrorist attacks.