Science/Tech

Parisians use Facebook to mark that they are safe

By Lord Castillo | Update Date: Nov 16, 2015 01:03 PM EST

Facebook users in Paris can quickly post safety status messages after a series of shootings and explosions around the city killed more than 100 people on November 13, 2015.

Facebook activated the Safety Check Tool which can automatically send users in the affected area a note asking if they're safe. When the user clicks "Yes, let my friends know," the tool then notifies their Facebook friends. Users outside Paris can also check to see if their friends are safe.

Facebook determines the location based on what the users have listed in their profile, the city where they're using the Internet, and, if they're using the social network's Nearby Friends feature. If Safety Check has gotten the location wrong, users can mark that they're somewhere else.

The said social media did this a response when officials in Paris are urging residents to avoid going out due to one of the deadliest acts of violence in France in decades.

"Communication is critical in these moments," Facebook said in a statement, "both for people there and for their friends and families anxious for news."

Parisians are also using Twitter to get information and seek for help. Using the hashtag, #PorteOuverte ("open door"), Twitter users in Paris have been posting their address to offer shelter.

Officials said more than 100 people were killed inside a Paris concert hall. The hostage-taking episode was one in a series of at least six attacks across the French capital, according to CBS News.

The French Police Officials said at least three attackers were killed when authorities launched an assault on the concert hall, where an American heavy metal band, the Eagles of Death Metal, were performing a sold-out show.

"It's a horror," French President Francois Hollande said. He then closed the country's borders and declared a state of emergency.

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