Facebook Safety Check Now a Fixture in Mobile App
The Facebook Safety Check now has its own place in the tabs of the Facebook app, in seeming admission that the world is not as safe as one might think. The new section also has features for people looking to offer help or donations during times of crisis.
The Safety Check page itself looks to be a grim reminder that catastrophic events are happening all over the world. A sample photo of the new section, posted by Facebook via their Disaster Response handle, shows just that — a typhoon, fire, building collapse and train accident are listed along with Facebook friends in the area that have marked themselves safe.
Facebook has committed to rolling out the new section in the coming weeks, starting with their announcement on Tuesday, Aug. 22. Users can expect their Android or iOS devices to feature the new Safety Check tab in the main section, right under Groups, in the coming days.
Aside from the assurance that people they know are safe, the Safety Check section also lets people indicate if they want to offer help or send a donation. With these changes, the section can now be accessed anytime, and not just when a disaster is recognized in the area, as The Verge noted.
As with all new features launched by Facebook, the new Safety Check could still use some improvements. The recognition of disasters and the people affected by them can use some work, as the feature can sometimes flag users even when there isn't a real emergency affecting them.
Some also noted that this section, even as it had secured a permanent spot in the Facebook mobile apps, still needs users to scroll all the way to the right, then down among the less-used features Facebook users have likely forgotten by now, like Local, Saved and Events.
Even so, users can look forward to more updates as Facebook gathers more feedback as the new feature rolls out to more users in the upcoming weeks.
