Social networking site Facebook has activated its Safety Check
tool amid the onslaught of Typhoon Ruby in the Philippines, and
neighboring countries.
Through Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit): Facebook Safety Check,
a Facebook user can let his friends and family know that they are safe
and check on others in the affected area. It also lets users mark their
friends as safe.
According to an article by Naomi
Gleit, VP of Product Management; Sharon Zeng, Product Manager; and Peter
Cottle, Software Engineer, the Safety Check is a proactive approach to
communicating and staying connected after a disaster.
Inspired by the devastating tsunami and earthquake in Japan three years
ago, Facebook's engineers "set out to create a simple and easy-to-use
tool that allows people to connect with their network of friends and
family when it matters most," the article said.
When the Safety Check tool is activated,
Facebook will determine the user's location as listed in his profile,
his last location if the user opted in to the Nearby Friends product,
and the city where the user is currently using the internet.
The user can then mark that he is outside the affected area if the
location gathered by the software is wrong. If safe, the user can select
“I’m Safe” and a notification and News Feed story will be generated
with his update. The user's friends can also mark him as safe.
If the user has friends in the area of a natural disaster and the tool
has been activated, he will receive a notification about those friends
that have marked themselves as safe. Clicking on this notification will
take the user to the Safety Check bookmark that will show him a list of
their updates.
Safety Check is available globally on Android, iOS, feature phones, and desktop. — Bianca Rose Dabu/LBG, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
