Connecting with others in times of crisis is very important. And because of this, Facebook is now announcing an update to its Safety Check feature.
Facebook wants to help people to find and give help to those in need, in times of crisis. With the updated feature within Safety Check called Community Help, users can “find and give help such as food, shelter and transportation after a crisis.” When using it, users can find and give help and message others who are affected, to connect with them. In Community Help, “posts can be viewed by category and location, making it easier for people to find the help they need.”
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To create the new feature, Facebook talked to experts and humanitarian relief organisations as well as researchers to find out how to make it easier for people to find and get help. Community Help will initially be available for natural and accidental incidents – earthquakes or building fires for example.
It will be available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and Saudi Arabia in the beginning, and may be available in more countries and other incidents.
Before Community Help can be used, Safety Check must be activated by global crisis reporting agencies NC4 and iJET International. They will have to notify Facebook that an incident has occurred and then give it a title. Then, Facebook will begin monitoring for posts about the incident in the area. If many people are talking about an incident, they will be asked to mark themselves safe, and invite others to do the same.
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