Checking in with Social Media

After the horrific earthquake that took over 2000 lives in Nepal, many loved ones have gone missing or have been displaced.  Family members have been frantically trying to get in touch with people in the area and some have been met with silence.

However, in October 2014 Facebook rolled out a new feature called Safety Check.  It allows people in disaster areas to check in and say “I'm safe” or "I'm not in the area" they can also indicate the other people they are with are safe.

Google deployed its own version before Facebook called Person Finder.  It is a part of Google’s charitable division and has lacked the success that Google desires.

Both of these features have importance that goes without saying, however, these features don’t address the fact that many people in the affected areas don’t have a digital connection or they lost their electronic devices in the devastation.

I think that social media sites will figure out ways to help people who don’t have connectivity, whether they have hotspot locations or perhaps they will work with the Red Cross to enable some sort of internet station. 

Until then, this feature is available to all the victims with service and it has been encouraged to post for others who don’t have service.