Facebook’s “Mark Yourself Safe” feature allows users to let their friends and family know they are okay during a crisis or disaster. This is an important way to communicate reassurance and reduce panic in emergency situations. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use Facebook’s Mark Yourself Safe tool.
What is the Mark Yourself Safe Tool?
The Mark Yourself Safe tool was launched by Facebook in 2014 to provide a way for people to reassure loved ones during dangerous events like natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or mass shootings. When a major crisis happens, Facebook activates the Mark Yourself Safe tool so people in the affected area can mark themselves safe and alert their connections on the platform.
Once marked safe, a notification goes out to your Facebook friends to let them know you’re okay. On your own profile, the words “Marked Safe” appear above your name. Facebook also aggregates the marked safe data to create a map and list of all the people who have marked themselves safe in the disaster zone.
The feature provides a way to communicate vital information to your community during emergencies. It can help reduce anxiety and misinformation by giving an instant status update on your safety.
When is the Tool Activated?
Facebook only activates the Mark Yourself Safe tool during major disasters or crises that affect public safety. Situations that may prompt the activation include:
- Natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, etc.
- Terrorist attacks
- Mass shootings
- Explosions
- Severe weather such as tornadoes
The tool is location-based, so it is triggered for people who are in the area of the crisis. Facebook has an internal team that decides when to activate the tool based on public safety concerns and consultations with first responders.
How to Mark Yourself Safe on Facebook
If you are in the vicinity of a crisis where Mark Yourself Safe has been activated, here are the steps to use the feature:
- Open the Facebook app on your smartphone or access Facebook through a desktop browser.
- A notification will appear at the top of your News Feed alerting you that Mark Yourself Safe has been activated with a link to the tool.
- Tap or click on the Mark Yourself Safe notification.
- Select that you are Safe to confirm your status.
- Choose to share publicly or only share with your friends.
- Tap the Mark Yourself Safe button.
Once you complete these steps, your profile will display the words “Marked Safe” and a notification will go to your friends list. The tool also gives you the option to provide more details on your status like your location or write a brief message.
How to Mark Yourself Safe on Desktop
You can also access the Mark Yourself Safe tool directly from the left-hand menu on the desktop site by following these instructions:
- Click on the arrow in the left menu bar to open it.
- Find and click See More…
- Select the Crisis Response tab.
- Choose Mark Yourself Safe.
- Confirm that you are safe and choose who to share with.
- Click Mark Yourself Safe.
How to Mark Friends Safe
If you see on the news or hear about a crisis affecting friends but you are unable to reach them, you may be able to mark them safe on Facebook through the Crisis Response page. Here is how:
- Go to the Crisis Response hub in the left menu > Crisis Response
- In the affected area, click on the Search Friends tab
- Type in the name of the missing friend and select their profile
- Click Mark as Safe next to their name
- Choose who you want to share with
- Click Mark as Safe to generate the notice to their friends list
Keep in mind you will need to be friends with someone on Facebook to mark them safe. Also, make sure you only mark real crisis situations and have a reasonable belief the person is actually okay. Abusing the tool violates Facebook’s policies.
How Do I Remove the Marked Safe Status?
The Marked Safe status is not permanent. According to Facebook, the notice expires after 24 hours, though this timeframe may vary depending on the disaster circumstances. Here are two ways to manually remove the status:
- Go back to the Crisis Response hub in the left menu bar and select Stop Showing Marked Safe
- Delete the Marked Safe card/status update from your profile’s timeline
Once removed, your profile will no longer display the marked safe message.
Important Things to Know About Marked Safe
- Mark Yourself Safe shares your status publicly by default. Deselect the public option before marking safe if you only want friends to see it.
- Anyone on or off Facebook can see public marked safe notices on the Crisis Response page.
- Marked safe notifications will only appear if your friends have the ability to see your profile and posts.
- Marking yourself safe does not share your specific location data.
- Always be certain someone is actually safe before marking them safe during a crisis.
- Marked safe data helps Facebook coordinate disaster relief.
- If your own status is incorrectly marked as safe, you can remove it from your profile.
Pros of Marking Yourself Safe
There are many benefits to using Facebook’s Mark Yourself Safe tool:
- Lets your family and friends know you are okay
- Reduces panic and fear in uncertain situations
- Alerts people that you’re safe without tying up phone lines
- Spreads the word quickly through your social network
- Helps people locate and find missing loved ones
- Provides important information to aid emergency responders
- Gives peace of mind and reassurance to your community
Cons of Marking Yourself Safe
While the tool is very useful, there are some downsides to be aware of as well:
- Default public setting shares your info widely
- Can create over-reliance on social media for emergency communications
- May encourage false rumor-spreading if misused
- Doesn’t necessarily mean someone is 100% safe
- Status expires so the notice is only temporary
How Marked Safe Differs from Facebook Safety Check
Facebook’s Mark Yourself Safe tool is related to but slightly different from Safety Check. Safety Check is an opt-in feature that notifies your circles when you’re affected by a natural disaster or terror attack. Here is a comparison between the two tools:
| Safety Check | Mark Yourself Safe |
|---|---|
| Opt-in feature you enable in Settings | Automatically activated by Facebook during crises |
| Sends notifications when affected by disaster | Allows user to voluntarily mark themselves safe |
| Appears as its own separate notice | Shows up as a label on your profile |
| Activates for natural disasters and terrorism | Also activated for mass shootings and health crises |
While the two features work differently, their goal is the same – providing a way to communicate reassurance and status during dangerous events. Safety Check and Mark Yourself Safe both harness the power of social media for emergency assistance.
Conclusion
Facebook’s Mark Yourself Safe tool provides an easy, fast way to communicate with loved ones during crisis situations where traditional communication methods may be overloaded or compromised. By tapping into Facebook’s massive global network, Marked Safe helps spread the word that you are okay while reducing chaos and fear. While no system is perfect, the tool has already proven its usefulness during numerous natural disasters and violent attacks. As long as you take care to use Mark Yourself Safe judiciously and customize your privacy settings, it can provide vital peace of mind when it matters most.