Facebook to Implement "Safety Check" in Natural Disasters

While looking around on Mashable a couple of days ago I came across an article about a new feature that Facebook will use when a natural disaster strikes in your area. Basically what will happen is if you're geographical location on your phone and Facebook app is near the area where a natural disaster just occurred, Facebook will send you a notification that will ask you if you're okay and give you an option to mark that you are safe.

Facebook Safety Check Feature

So in reality, Facebook just turned into your mother.  

Which I actually think is great. In the event of a natural disaster, there could be power lines down or so many people trying to get through on the phone lines that you can't get through to your family and friends. This Safety Check feature gives people the option of letting everyone know that you're safe in the event that you have no other option of getting into contact with the people that need to know.

This new feature came about during the 2011 Japan earthquake, when Facebook engineers in Japan made a disaster message board, which then turned into Safety Check. Also, after Hurricane Sandy Google began using Public Alerts and Apple has Emergency Alerts imbedded into the settings of their system. So, there have always been aspects of safety, but I think Facebook may have found themselves in a game changer.

Another cool feature is that you can click on the natural disaster Safety Check event and see all of your friends on Facebook in that area and see who has clicked, "I'm safe," and who hasn't.

Facebook Safety Check Feature

I think it's a good way of putting people's nerves at ease. I know that whenever a natural disaster happens in places where I have friends and family members who live there, my first thought is, "I wonder if they're okay!" So knowing you can check out there Facebook and see that they've checked "I'm safe" is a really great tool that I'm glad social media sites are starting use.

Facebook Wants Your Health Data Too

By: Sarah Jones

Facebook is in talks with various medical industry experts to test and develop the app. The app would allow users to get into a community with other users with the same ailments. Because of Facebook's recent privacy concerns, which included Facebook manipulating users emotions during a research study, Facebook is deciding to make it an app separate from Facebook. While it's not a definite thing, it sounds like Facebook wants to get in on the health craze that so many other companies are doing. In the new iOS8 update, Apple added a health app that allows users to be able to keep up with and log their weight, height, sleep habits, calories burned, and distance walked/run. Google is also preparing Google Fit for Android users that has basically the same things that the Apple app has. 

                                         Facebook Health     

I was excited to get the new Apple health app with my iOS8 update however, it's been a little difficult to use. You're supposed to be able to sync your other health apps with this one in order to have all of your health needs in one specific location but I've been having to enter my data manually. I hope that whatever Facebook has up their sleeve with their health app is better functioning than Apple's. I think having a community to share your struggles with your specific ailment at your fingertips through an app is innovative and comforting to some people. There's supposedly also a prevention side to the app as well that allows people to become aware of certain ailments. 

The only thing that people should be wary about is, of course, the privacy. Exactly what is Facebook going to do with the health information that you have entered into their app? People aren't naive in this day and age that they would be surprised to find out what is happening with their private information. However, with the app having a community aspect to it, I would assume the people using the app are okay with sharing their personal details to the other persons with the same ailment in their community. Some people already do it on Facebook, whether someone has the same struggles as they do or not. Nothing is private anymore and if you don't want something that you feel is super private on the Internet, like your health, then don't get the app. But I feel like the people getting this app are going to be the people that already share openly on Facebook and don't care that everyone knows their business. Overall I think this is a good concept and some people will probably really benefit from using this app to use when they need advice or comfort from other people with the same illness.