Social media sites activated crisis tools during Paris attacks

New York

AS THE attacks in Paris were still unfolding on Friday night, social media sites lit up as sources for information that went beyond the news.

Facebook activated its Safety Check tool, which allows users in an area affected by a crisis to mark themselves or others as safe. Facebook created the tool to help in times of crisis, a spokeswoman, Anna Richardson White, said on Saturday, and it has activated it five times in the past year after natural disasters. But this was the first time it was activated for something like this, she noted.