Facebook has added an option to let users declare that they are an organ donor on their timeline, in order to raise awareness and help the 112,000 Americans waiting replacement organs. Mark Zuckerberg was inspired to make the change by his girlfriend and the late Steve Jobs.
Users can look under the “Health and Wellness” section on their profile to add the organ donor status to their timeline, with the option of saying why they became one. Links to official donor registries are listed, as an additional option for interested users.
Talking to ABC News, Mark Zuckerberg explained that he had the idea for the tool after speaking to his girlfriend over dinner. Priscilla Chan, a medical student, told the Facebook creator stories of when patients would become more ill over time while waiting for an organ to become available, and of those who do receive a transplant and regain their lives. The death of Steve Jobs prompted him to to make the tool, something which also spurned on other people involved with the project. Jobs returned to work in June 2009 following a liver transplant.
Zuckerberg had been surprised by how Facebook helps people in a time of crisis, such as during the tsunami in Japan, calling the ability to link people around the world and help save lives “Amazing.”
