5 ms·
"Please login to Facebook to access this Safety Check." Can anyone tell me what this is about?
by jglauche 11y ago
"Please login to Facebook to access this Safety Check."
Can anyone tell me what this is about?
- zrail 11y agohttp://www.cnn.com/2016/03/22/europe/brussels-explosions/ http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/22/europe/brussels-explosions/
- jglauche 11y agoI am aware of that but what's the facebook site about?
- bartligthart 11y agoIt looks like this. http://cl.ly/243T3c1u1g3M http://cl.ly/243T3c1u1g3M
- 21 11y agoIf you live in that area you login and mark yourself as Safe, so everybody interested can see that instead of you receiving countless questions. Also, I received a push notification on my Android that "Friend was marked as safe" from someone I know who lives there.
- madaxe_again 11y agoIt's a bullshit marketing exercise by facebook to gather traffic as a result of a tragedy. I mean... why don't they do this every day for folks on the daily commute? Getting into your car and driving to work is a far more likely cause of death than a terrorist attack. I suppose they're only being reflective of the general hysteria that happens every time something like this happens.
- TallGuyShort 11y agoWhen there are isolated deaths like traffic accidents, the authorities take pains to notify the next of kin before releasing public details, so you're not seeing the family car on the news wondering if the driver made it. In cases like this, it's all over the news and many people may have an accurate idea of if their loved ones were likely in the affected area. You may call it bullshit, but I've seen a lot of people very relieved to get the news that someone is okay quickly and efficiently like this. It's one of the better things made possible by Facebook.
- rmc 11y agoI've seen advice on twitter to not post photos of the scene, and likewise for media. Imagine if you knew a loved had died by seeing their corpse on the "Breaking News"....
- pyre 11y agoFacebook is a communication medium for a lot of people. People are going to log into Facebook to communicate about the tragic event regardless of features like this.
- Totoradio 11y agoI used it during the Paris attacks in november, and it indicated to everyone I know that I was safe, without the need for everyone of them to message me. Of course, the close friends and family still called/texted, but for literally everyone else in my facebook friends, it was useful.
- madaxe_again 11y agoI fail to see how that is useful - of course you're safe - out of a city with a population in the millions hundreds died - it makes no more sense to check on your safety due to an event than this than on a daily basis, as you're more likely to have a heart attack in your sleep. All this does is further warp and distort our idea of what is dangerous in life and what is not.
- TheLogothete 11y agoWe have found Sheldon Cooper.
- Jtsummers 11y agoIn the 90s there was an accident at a concert my aunt and uncle were attending. Tens of people died, many more injured. We couldn't reach them for days, had no clue what their condition was. Turned out they had left the concert early, and, this being the 90s, hadn't heard about the accident until they got home (much easier back then to live under a rock with respect to news events). A feature like this would have saved us all a lot of fretting. While it's true that 99.99% of people in the cities of these various attacks are safe, that doesn't prevent others from worrying about them when these events hit the news. And it's not just for terrorist attacks, they've also applied it to natural disasters (which will impact a lot more people).
- newjersey 11y agoI still think we overemphasize the threat of terrorism and it plays directly I to the neocons narrative. I wish we stopped playing their game. If you're worried about someone, reach out to them directly. I can see the value of this in case of a tragedy that affects thousands but not here.
- anoother 11y ago> why don't they do this every day for folks on the daily commute? That is, actually, a really good idea - how many times has a relative/friend told you to 'text me when you get there, just so we know you're safe'...
- bryondowd 11y agoIn general, you may be more likely to die in your daily commute than in a terrorist attack. However, the odds of 'was this person a casualty of this specific event, given that they were likely to be present around the time of the event' is likely much higher than 'was this person a casualty of a random road accident on this particular day'
- URSpider94 11y agoThis. I just looked up the numbers, and approximately 1.5 million people fly in our out of the Brussels airport per month. That's 50,000 per day. If 25 people died at the airport this morning, that's 1:2000 of people who would have traveled through there today. Narrow that down to people who were (or were expected to be) in the airport within 2 hours of the attack, and now it's getting uncomfortably likely.
- efdee 11y agoTo be fair, the government is asking people to NOT use phones to communicate their current status and rely on social media instead. GSM use in the affected area is almost impossible at this point due to congestion.
- dfat10 11y agoI've heard "congestion" a few times. Is it not a standard response to jam cell networks in the area in case additional bombs could be triggered via cell detonator?
- janekm 11y agoTurn off, rather, in fact I heard from friends in Brussels that cell towers in areas with bomb threats had been switched off when there were threats a few months ago.
- pygy_ 11y agoThe cell phone network is currently suffering DDOS from everyone trying to reach everyone else at the same time, to ensure they are fine. It is a good feature.
- salmonet 11y agoRational or not, family/friends freak out when you are close to a natural disaster or terrorist attack. I was in Chile during an 8.8 earthquake and assumed no one would worry since the death toll was so low. But everyone at home went nuts, in the two days it took to contact my family my mother had already accepted that I was dead.
- madaxe_again 11y agoThey do - I was on the tube a few trains back from one that got hit in London in '07 - I responded to everyone with words to the effect of "of course, don't be irrational". I just worry that this sort of thing only fans the flames of irrational fears, and we have quite enough irrational thought driving the direction of the world right now.
- dave2000 11y agoI hate it when people overreact to the pointless slaughter of random people by religious fanatics.
- CarolineW 11y agoGood for you - I'm so very pleased that you are completely rational, and untouched by events like this. Thank you for letting us know.
- eropple 11y agoSeriously (and thank you for bearding that lion in its den). That having the slightest shred of empathy and self-effacement is considered a negative in some parts of this industry...we deserve us.
- dave2000 11y agoIt also appears to be overrepresented in the "can't comprehend basic English" category.
- onra87 11y agoDoes Facebook really need that to gain some more traffic ?
- Coincoin 11y agoDon't you think not having news from someone you love for prolonged time can actually hype the hysteria? I'd say I'm usually a rational person when those events happen. Yet, every hour that goes by without news from my cousin who works there makes me a little bit more concerned even though I know he and his family are very probably safe.
- dalore 11y agoThis is what you get: Brussels Explosions FACEBOOK SAFETY CHECK Quickly find and connect with friends in the area. Mark them safe if you know that they're OK. Are you in the affected area? Yes, let my friends know. ---- Basically if you are in Brussels you let Facebook know you are ok. And if you have friends who knows you're in Brussels, they can check if you are ok. Rather then the poor Brussels person getting lots of messages from people asking if he is ok, they can check once.
- wodenokoto 11y agoFacebook asks all its users that are close to a disaster if they are okay and alert their network. It is basically just a fancy way for people to update their status following news of a disaster.