Facebook to introduce new feature to help connect blood donors, patients and hospitals

Starting 1 October, Facebook will be launching a new feature, that will allow users to sign up as blood donors on the social network. Those who sign up on the network will soon be connected to both patients and hospitals who are in need of safe blood in India. [caption id=“attachment_4090627” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The Facebook Blood Donor feature[/caption] The feature seems to be well though out and will connect Facebook -registered donors to patients who are in need of safe blood. Users who would like to sign up can choose to remain private or have their donor status show up on their profiles itself. Facebook will ask users to sign up by pushing a message to their News Feeds. Once signed up, Blood donors will be notified, if a particular blood type is needed in a specific area. Users looking for safe blood will also be able to create special posts with all the information donors need to offer help, making it easier and quicker to find blood. [caption id=“attachment_4090631” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The Facebook app Blood Donor interface[/caption] If a donor is interested, they can request more details by contacting the requestor via WhatsApp, Messenger or a phone call via the app. [caption id=“attachment_4090639” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The Facebook app Blood Seeker interface[/caption] All information of the donor is kept private and will only be revealed if the donor wishes to do so once both users are in contact. The new feature will be first available on the Android app and then on the mobile web app as the platforms are widely used in India.