If you've got a little pink dot on your driving license, Facebook wants to know about it.
The social networking site is urging its users to publish their organ donor status, either publicly or privately, on personal timeline pages. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says that sharing of such information could encourage more people to become registered donors.
In the U.S., an average of 18 people die per day while waiting for an organ transplant, according to organdonor.gov. One donor can save up to eight lives, and there are currently more than 100,000 people on the waiting list for a kidney, heart, lung, pancreas, or liver.
Usually, the decision to become a registered donor is made within the unfeeling walls of the DMV. But Facebook believes that giving the choice a more personal, social environment, could result in a rush of new donors and perhaps even create an informal registry.
Announcing your organ donor status on Facebook can be done directly from the status update box on your timeline by selecting "life event" and "health and wellness." By clicking on "organ donor," users can advertise where and when they registered, and also add a story to explain their motivation. Unregistered users will find a link to sign up to become organ donor.
What do you think about sharing your organ donor status on Facebook? Will it encourage more people to register? Or is Facebook simply amassing more information about its users?
Take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments below.
