Facebook has presented yet another exhilarating example of humanity. Last year, the social media giant introduced the ‘Safety Check’ feature to tag people ‘safe/unsafe’ during natural calamities. The idea was to inform the friends and family if the user was trapped in a catastrophic situation. To strengthen this cause further, the website introduced the Facebook Community Help feature in India and five other countries– Australia, Canada, US, UAE and New Zealand.
Facebook community centre is a ground-breaking call for public participation. Using this feature, the victims can seek help from people present nearby, in times of emergency. Right now, the website is testing this algorithm for accidents and natural disasters only.
Go through the next couple of paragraphs to check how it works.
How does Facebook Safety Check Work?
Facebook’s Safety Check algorithm follows NC4 and iJET research. These agencies report natural disasters occurring in the world. As soon as a disaster is tracked in a region, the website automatically monitors user profiles, based on their GPS location. It marks all the people present in or around the ‘unsafe location’. If the disaster is of grave nature and a lot of people are talking about it, tagged users are prompted to mark them safe or unsafe. They can also invite others to do the same.
How can Facebook Community Help Lend a Helping Hand to those in Need?
Preethi Chethan, the social good product designer explains the logic behind Facebook Community Help. Users can access the ‘Find Help’ button, while they mark themselves safe using Safety Check. Upon clicking the button, they’ll be automatically redirected to a new page. Here, they can seek help from local communities. This page is common for all users. Thus, friends and families of the victims can collectively help a lot of people through a single platform.
You can also mention the kind of help you seek by selecting specific categories, such as ‘food’, ‘water’, ‘transportation’, ‘equipment’, ‘shelter’, ‘toiletries’, ‘baby supplies’ and a variety of other stuff that is required during recovery period, following a crisis. The good thing is that all Facebook users can access this feature without having to create a separate page or group, which is very time-consuming.The important thing is Facebook Community Help abates rescue time thus ensuring
The important thing is Facebook Help Community abates rescue time thus, ensuring a quick recovery. The victims can close out their requests for help to let others know that they’ve successfully evaded the disasters and are safe now. This thing keeps others updated about the exact status of the emergency.Initially, this feature is available for limited categories like fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc. If it turns out to be a success, Facebook will add more relevant categories to the list that might cover local incidents too.
Initially, this feature is available for limited categories like fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc. If it turns out to be a success, Facebook will add more relevant categories to the list that might cover local incidents too.
