【Germany Archives】

Facebook's Safety Check feature is Germany Archivesgetting a permanent presence on the social network.

Beginning today, the feature will have its own dedicated section on Facebook's app and website where users can see friends' recent activity with Safety Check and learn about incidents happening elsewhere in the world.

SEE ALSO: Facebook's 'Town Hall' is probably the best thing the social network has ever done

When you head over to the new Safety Check section, you'll see a feed highlighting any recent interactions you or friends have had with Safety Check. There's also an "around the world" section that shows where the feature has been recently activates.

For each event, you can see a description of what happened, view associated fundraisers, and see how many people have offered help via the Community Help feature, which allows people to offer short-term assistance to people affected by natural disasters and other crises.

While Facebook has been steadily expanding Safety Check and its features since it first debuted in 2014, the update marks the first time the tool will have a permanent, dedicated space on the service.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Previously, most users would only see Safety Check in their News Feeds if they were prompted to mark themselves as safe, or if a friend interacted with the feature, like marking themselves as safe or donating to a fundraiser.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Besides making Safety Check more visible, Facebook says the update will help people get better information about ongoing incidents and reduce the chance that people panic if they see the feature in their own feed.

"We want to make sure that Safety Check continues to be useful and relevant to people during a crisis and does not create panic or false alarm," says Peter Cottle, a software engineer for Safety Check.

One early criticism of Facebook's Safety Check was that it could do more harm than good if notifications for a given incident were overly broad. Alerting an entire city about a situation that really only affects a one neighborhood, for example, could cause unnecessary alarm.

The company has said this was one motivation for turning Safety Check over to the community, meaning that Facebook users control when the feature is activated. By relying on users rather than Facebook employees, Safety Check could be more precise.

Of course, as is always the case with Facebook, there's always a chance people will spread false or necessarily alarming information, particularly in the midst of an unfolding crisis. But by making Safety Check details available for anyone to see, it should be easier now for people to find accurate information in the first place.

---

Featured Video For You

---

This plastic card could be the ultimate life hack

---

Topics Facebook Social Good Social Media

• Entertainment
• Social Good
• Tech
• Science
• Digital Culture
• Shopping
• Games
• Deals

• Ryzen 5 1600X vs. 1600: Which should you buy?
• 2020 iPhones will come with smaller and larger screens
• The world's carbon emissions went up in 2019, continuing a bad trend
• J.K. Rowling trolls Donald Trump with the most British reference ever
• Best keyboard deals: Save on Asus gaming keyboards at Amazon
• Meteorologist's Apple Watch contradicts his forecast during live broadcast
• 11 times Emma Watson was the hero we all needed
• The White House just plagiarized an ExxonMobil press release
• Is it 'Thunderbolts*' or *The New Avengers'?
• 'Servant' review: Apple TV+ delivers a stylish and slow mystery

• Striking images capture the majestic beauty of seadragons
• The Guardian claims WhatsApp's encryption contains a 'backdoor'
• This book service wants to help you celebrate black excellence in literature
• Bush sisters' heartfelt letter to the Obama girls will make your day
• This city is fighting sexual harassment on the subway with a 24/7 hotline
• Actual footage shows what it was like to land on Saturn's moon Titan
• 'Everyone wants us to win' — Twitter's marketing chief on the company's future
• How Jadeveon Clowney went from draft bust to forceful freak of nature
• Is Apple's App Store a monopoly?
• 'Jeopardy!' celebrated the internet last night with meme

• Fyre Festival and Trump’s Language
• Even in the White House, Trump can't escape Hillary Clinton
• Facebook's 'Liam' chatbot helps employees talk about scandals
• Even in the White House, Trump can't escape Hillary Clinton
• Amazon Prime Grubhub deal: Save $10 off orders of $20 or more
• Someone like boo: Adele confirms she's put a ring on it while discussing #feels
• Instagram will start cracking down on underage users (sort of)
• Barbra Streisand doesn't need people, she needs pancakes
• Best headphones deal: Save up to 51% on Beats at Amazon
• Which Disney Channel bully

• Best robot vacuum deal: Eufy Omni C20 robot vacuum and mop at record
• Everyone is making the same point about the gay character in 'Beauty and the Beast'
• The 'Stranger Things' kids are having a heated argument about reindeer on Twitter
• How to ensure your online activism has an offline impact
• This is the fattest of the extremely fat bears
• Thailand's red taxis are taking the petty route to drive Uber and Grab out of town
• Google's cofounders are no longer running Alphabet
• MacBook Pro keep shutting down? Apple has a weird fix.
• Exceptionally rare radio sources detected in the distant universe
• Instagram will start cracking down on underage users (sort of)