For all the good social media does, it's hard to deny that there is a dark side to tweets, selfies and Tumblrs.
After the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake—followed by a second 7.3 magnitude quake—hit Nepal, Facebook has stepped up to help raise relief funds as well as activate a new feature to help family members and friends let each other know they are safe.
Facebook's donate button raised more $15 million in one week, and the popular social media site will also match the money raised up to $2 million, bringing the contribution up to about $17.4 million.
Since social media is the modern communication tool, it only made sense that Facebook would activate its new feature aimed at people who live in areas affected by a disaster.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new feature launched last October, called Safety Check, would be used to help those in Nepal in a post last month.
"When disasters happen, people to know their loved ones are safe," he writes. "It's moments like this that being able to connect really matters."
Here's how Safety Check works: Using a location tool to determine where a user is (based on where they are using the Internet and the city they live in), those who are in affected areas receive a notification that asks them if they are safe, and if they want to check on family or friends.
Facebook users could also go to Facebook's Safety Check page for the May 12 Nepal earthquake, which asked the user is he or she was in the area during the earthquake. Users had the option to click, "Yes, let my friends know," where they then were able to click "I'm safe."
The Safety Check for this crisis has now been turned off after people who have not been affected by this natural disaster began abusing the new Facebook feature.
The new feature was widely used by those in Nepal, but many Americans and people in the UK began misusing the tool by marking that they too were safe, even though they are located nowhere near Nepal.
These posts have sparked criticism from people on the social media site, with people unfreinding those who seem to be taking the tool as a joke.
Others blasted people who are abusing the Nepal safety feature on Twitter and Tumblr, calling them out for their inappropriate behavior.
Do people from England and have never been to Nepal, really need to mark themselves as "safe". pic.twitter.com/2KPOkHQYvY
— Tomas Frodsham (@TommyyFroddyy) May 12, 2015
I feel like the people marking themselves as "safe" on Facebook right now are mocking the people of Nepal and the thousands of lives lost. — Sydney Randall (@ohhsydneymae) May 13, 2015
While this is an example of how out insensitive people can be on social media, many use the technology for good. Google launched a Person Finder Tool to reconnect those affected, as well as helping rescue teams target their searches. There is also an Instagram account called "Nepal Photo Project" that is sharing information about missing persons.
More than 8,000 people died in the first earthquake that hit Nepal last month, and dozens were killed on in the second one that struck on May 12.
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Photo: DFID - UK Department for International Development | Flickr
