Forget prayers, thoughts and sad faces; Facebook Community Help lets you actually help those in crisis 

When there is an emergency somewhere in the world -- be it a natural disaster, terrorist attack or humanitarian crisis -- it has become normal to see Facebook's Safety Check feature kick in. As well as letting those affected by the crisis in question let their loved ones know that they are OK, Safety Check activations also result in a flood of thoughts, prayers and sad-faced emoji being sent by Facebookers.

But what about sending actual help? Sending thoughts and prayers is something of an empty gesture, whereas offering shelter, food and other supplies could actually help to save lives. Facebook has now expanded its Safety Check tool to include Community Help, enabling helpful souls to lend support in times of need.

The idea is a very simple one. To start with it covers disasters such as accidents and earthquakes, but will ultimately expand to included terrorist attacks and other crises. In the event of a disaster, once a Safety Check event has been triggered, those affected by the event are able to indicate the type of help they need from the nearby community, or the wider world. Other Facebook users can then browse through the list of requests and provide whatever help they feel able to.

Facebook's Naomi Gleit says:

With Community Help people can find and give help, and message others directly to connect after a crisis. Posts can be viewed by category and location, making it easier for people to find the help they need. We saw the community do this on their own through Groups and posts, like in the aftermath of the flooding in Chennai, India, in December 2015, but we knew we could do more. We also talked with experts, humanitarian relief organizations and our own in-the-field research to learn how to make it easier for people to find and give help.

Facebook has a number of safety measures in place to help ensure that the new system is not abused, and the company is working with aid organizations to ensure that there is a decent infrastructure in place to get help to victims.

Community Help is rolling out in US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and Saudi Arabia to start with, but there will be a global rollout in due course.

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