What started as a trendy way to hook up with long-lost friends has become a tool that can save lives during severe weather and bomb threats.
Facebook, the social networking Web site that is all the rage on college campuses nationwide, is the new way to reach students, and alert and prepare them for emergencies.
Maj. Jay Gruber, commander of technology services at the University of Maryland, College Park’s Department of Public Safety, launched in June a Facebook group to spread information during emergencies at the nearly 40,000-student school.
He hasn’t had to use the site yet, but often makes posts to try to keep students prepared for an emergency.
As of Friday afternoon, the group had 218 members and was adding more every day.
“I was struggling with a way to get students engaged or involve them with emergency management and a way to get them information about emergencies,” said Gruber, 45.
He had to ask for help from some students in his office to start a Facebook profile, but says the tool could prove invaluable during emergencies.
The school has few other two-way communication systems. Administrators launched a text-message alert system soon after the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, in which 33 people, including the gunman, died. But now, after a text-message alert or siren is set off, members of the Facebook group can get in-depth information about what is happening, and they can pass information among each other.
For instance, if a member has a friend who has gone missing, they can post a message about it on the Facebook group site in the hopes that someone else has seen the missing person, said Gruber, who bookmarked the site on his BlackBerry for easy access.
Meanwhile, a larger but similar social networking project is gearing up at the school. Ben Schneiderman, a computer science professor, and Jennifer Preece, dean of the College of Information Studies, have urged local, state and federal governments to create 911.gov, a Web site that all citizens could use to get updates from authorities and each other.
Gruber, at least, is sold on the idea.
“I wanted nothing to do with Facebook [before]. I don’t even have an [America Online] instant messenger on my computer,” Gruber said. “But now, after doing this, I really see the value.”
