Huge spike in organ donors after new Facebook feature is introduced

Earlier in the week Facebook launched a new feature that enabled users to tell their friends and families that they’re an organ donor. But do many people want to reveal that kind of information and will it really make a difference in the long run? 

On Monday there were rumours flying round the internet that Facebook would be launching a brand new feature that would have “the power to save lives”. This led many to believe the social network would be introducing a new security system, a way of alerting the authorities about emergencies or increased privacy controls. However, on Tuesday everything was revealed, you can now tell your friends and family that you’re an organ donor straight from your Timeline.

A press release in the Facebook Newsroom states:

“Starting today, you can add that you’re an organ donor to your timeline, and share your story about when, where or why you decided to become a donor. If you’re not already registered with your state or national registry and want to be, you’ll find a link to the official donor registry there as well.”

Apparently the feature won’t roll-out to all countries just yet, but it’s working in the US and the UK. In order to go tell all of your Facebook friends you’re an organ donor and have it added to your Timeline, simply go to ‘Life Event’, click ‘Health and Wellbeing’, click ‘Organ Donor’ and add in your details.

If you’re not already an official organ donor you can then go through the link to a special registry to become one and once you’ve added your organ donor status, it’ll appear as a life event on your Timeline and in your about page too.

This is a great move from Facebook and we don’t doubt that it does indeed have the potential to “save lives”, but how many of your friends really want to share that kind of information?

Our Facebook friends in the office certainly seem to be utilising the new feature, with many signing up to tell the world they’re an organ donor and others writing updates about registering. And, it seems it’s much more widespread than Shiny Media, as ABC News has revealed there was a 700% (yes, really) increase in the number of people signing up to become an organ donor in California alone.

According to the same report, more than 100,000 users had declared that they were organ donors just a matter of hours after the new tool was introduced, so we’re now really interested to see just how many have after a few days and whether the new feature proves just as popular in different states and countries.