Facebook is often a go-to place to check in with friends and family all over the world, and if you knew anyone in the Orlando area then Sunday would have been a worrisome one.

For the first time in U.S. history Facebook activated the Safety Check feature, which allows you to notify friends and family that you are safe.

This is what the Safety Check feature looks like in practice:

I wonder if they will catch heat for labelling it a terror attack?

It also allows you to tag friends as safe, which could be the message that puts a family at easy. Here’s The Verge with more:

Facebook launched Safety Check in October 2014 after first introducing the feature in Japan due to the country’s propensity for natural disasters. The social network’s deployment of Safety Check has not been without controversy; Facebook had to explain why it was switched on for last year’s Paris attacks but not other contemporaneous incidents, and earlier this year accidentally sent out supposedly local alerts to people around the world after a bombing in Pakistan.

Whilst there are obviously some kinks to iron out, on the whole this is one Facebook feature that seems to be of actual use.

[source:theverge]