Facebook's Safety Check feature gets its own tab

Facebook's Safety Check feature which lets people know you're safe during crisis situations is going to get its own dedicated tab. A " target="_blank">promotional photo of the same shows the Safety Check page displaying what’s essentially a news feed of catastrophes — including a collapse, a fire, and a typhoon — and people marking themselves safe. You can even explore disasters “around the world.”

Facebook’s Disaster Response page explains that the Safety Check tool will be visible to all your friends after you have previously switched it on so that they are able to receive information about your safety status. If they see that you are in some kind of danger from a flood, terror attack, earthquake, or other forms of calamity, they might be able to seek assistance for you.

The update isn't exactly a prominent one as the feature is hidden quite deep inside the app. On mobile, you have to go to the far right screen and scroll down until you find the icon, mixed in among dozens of other Facebook features. But its creation means that when the feature does get surfaced during a disaster, users will have a lot more to look through.

Facebook added the Community Help tool to the Safety Check feature last February to provide a communications center for communities affected by a disaster. The feature will take a few weeks to reach everyone.