Facebook Introduces Safety Check
Video by Amy Tseng
It's hard to let friends know that you're safe when a natural disaster strikes, but Facebook is making it easy to tell everyone at once.
The social media site introduced their Safety Check feature Wednesday in an effort 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," according the Facebook website.
Safety Check sends a push notification to the user's phone asking them to click either "I'm safe" or "I'm not in the area. The feature will post a status onto the user's wall with their update and combines every response under a page for the incident, allowing users to see which of thier friends have checked in as safe, which haven't checked in yet and a map of the area affected.
The company says, "if you're ever in a situation that would require you to use Safety Check, we hope it's a tool that helps you stay connected to those you care about, and gives you the comfort of knowing your loved ones are safe," Facebook says.
USC students had mixed reactions about the new feature. While some felt it would help in the event of a natural disaster, like an earthquake, others felt it may violate privacy issues.
