Social networking giant Faceboook has launched a tool enabling users to add their organ donor status to their Facebook Timelines.
Siliconrepublic.com reported earlier today that Facebook was apparently preparing to launch a type of life-saving tool on the social networking site, and the company did just that.
Starting today, Facebook users can add that they are an organ donor to their Timelines, and share their stories about when, where or why they decided to become organ donors.
“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,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg said in a statement.
The idea behind all this is that it will create peer pressure to spur more people to include their names on lists of registered organ donors.
“Today, more than 114,000 people in the United States, and millions more around the globe, are waiting for the heart, kidney or liver transplant that will save their lives,” Zuckerberg and Sandberg said in their statement.
“Many of those people – an average of 18 people per day – will die waiting, because there simply aren’t enough organ donors to meet the need. Medical experts believe that broader awareness about organ donation could go a long way toward solving this crisis. And we believe that by simply telling people that you’re an organ donor, the power of sharing and connection can play an important role.”
