Facebook is now encouraging its users to take interest in the issue of organ donation by putting up their donor status on their profiles to help reduce the number of deaths that happen due to lack of timely transplant of organs in the US.
With 160 million users in US, Facebook aims to create an impact apart from being just a form of social networking. Users have been advised to update their statuses, their birth dates and the schools they studied in to urge more users to register themselves as organ donors. The thought is to get people who are organ donors to declare it on the website so as to motivate friends to join the cause, to stick to a kind of social norm perhaps, by using features to register online or traditionally at the motor vehicle department. Experts suggest Facebook should come up with a way of informally registering people so as to increase the numbers, while continuing to urge people to approach their state registry.
Usually, when people sign up with the official state registry, it is a form of legal declaration so organs can be donated post death without consulting the family. In case the deceased has not registered himself, the family is usually persuaded (if possible) into granting approval for organ donation. If people state themselves as donors on Facebook, it will quicken several procedures. However, it will be an entirely justified legal issue if the family of the deceased wants to challenge this move.
With less than half of the number of adults in America signing up to be organ donors, the issue does not receive much thought because related decisions are taken at the motor vehicle department, and this certainly does not help reflect the actual gravity of the problem. According to Dr Cameron of John Hopkins Hospital, the problem is mainly shortage of organ donors more than shortcomings in the technology. The plan seeks at collecting information about the users through updates on their organ donation status and an account of their fitness under the section ‘Health and Wellness’. Other countries, apart from US and UK, will be introduced into the plan soon. However, this could also gather negative reaction with users dissuading one another.
Earlier, Facebook had taken a step against preventing bullying by reporting it and also providing for users to get in touch with counselors who would help prevent suicides through a service called ‘Lifeline’.
