Facebook activates "Safety Check". For those who have or can get to internet connection (even briefly), this seems like a useful feature. I've often pondered that were a major quake to occur in Alaska, how I might notify my family outside that I was safe?
On Saturday afternoon, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on his timeline that the notifications came from Safety Check, a service the company launched last fall. "When disasters happen, people need to know their loved ones are safe," he wrote, "It's moments like this that being able to connect really matters."
When activated, Safety Check locates Facebook users near a disaster site through the city they list on their profile, or from where they last used the Internet. Users then receive a notification asking to confirm that they're safe or to say that they weren't in the affected area. Those who choose "safe" generate a notification to their friends and followers, who can track how many of their friends were affected.
One hopes that in the event of a major disaster in the first world, that organizations such as the Red Cross would establish internet connections in their emergency shelters just so people could pass brief messages via Facebook or other means.
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