Jonathan Charles
Facebook's growth from college-wide identity lookup to worldwide social network has seen plenty of positive and negatives experiences for Mark Zukcerberg and his team, but the social network's latest feature could be life changing. On Tuesday, May 1, Zuckerberg will appear on Good Morning America to unveil a new 'life saving' tool.
ABC announced on Monday, April 30, that Robin Roberts will interview the Facebook CEO. The interview will take place in Facebook's new offices in Menlo Park, California, which span 79 acres of space.
Facebook COO - Sheryl Sandberg - will talk to the press after the announcement, and will talk to ABC's Diane Sawyer also. ABC said Sandberg will talk about the "personal stories" that led to the new tool.
"Facebook has location info, so it knows where you are. It also knows who you are and who is in your network, including family. With that kind of information, they could bring an applet that allows you to broadcast emergency messages through Facebook," Zeus Kerravala, a ZK Research analyst, said when speaking to Computerworld. Such a feature sounds like an expanded Find My iPhone, which allows Apple users to see the location of lost or stolen devices through an app on another iOS device. Kerravala added the tool would help Facebook become more ingrained in users' lives.
"Just think, Facebook could send a push notification to anyone you choose in your network that you're in trouble. It's now the best, fastest way of sending info to everyone in your life," he added.
Facebook partnered with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL), where users are encouraged to report links to suicidal comments posted on the social network. A message is then sent to the user, with a phone number to call the lifeline.
Facebook hasn't shared word on what the tool is beforehand, but it shouldn't be too long before the company reveals all. Clips from the interview will be on Tuesday's Nightline show, ABC News and Yahoo's Newsmaker show.
Facebook is readying for its Initial Public Offering (IPO) this month, where the company is expected to be valued up to $100 billion.
(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Dave Clark)
most read
more stories from Internet / Social Media
Google's two-minute blackout has caused a whopping 40 percent drop in global Internet traffic.
ernest hamiltonRumors turned out to be legitimate, as Xbox Music web player is now live.
ernest hamiltonA bug in Facebook's latest beta app for Android collected and stored the phone numbers of anyone who launched the app, regardless of whether they logged in or had an account.
ernest hamiltonMozilla Firefox 22 is bringing advance 3D gaming to the web with Unreal Engine 3.
ernest hamiltonA security bug in Facebook's 'Download Your Information' (DYI) tool exposed email addresses and telephone numbers of roughly 6 million users.
ernest hamiltonTwo of the new features now available on Socl comes in the form of a meme generator and GIF creator. This is a good idea since memes and GIFs are one of the leading activities on the Internet right now.
ernest hamiltonThe Facebook invitation doesn't say anything about the product or the service that is going to be launched on June 20.
ernest hamiltonIn the new version of OS X, dubbed OS X 10.9 Mavericks, if you use the new Safari web browser to open a website that is power hungry, you will not have to close it in order to save your battery life.
ernest hamilton