Yesterday, news outlets teased us with Facebook’s plan to announce a change that would SAVE LIVES. We speculated about it, having fun at Zuckerberg’s expense and promptly forgot about it. This morning the annoucement was made: Zuck was encouraging everyone to add their organ donor status to their info, alongside their relationship status and other vital stats.
I feel like someone needs to take Zuck aside and say, “Oh, honey. No,” because it’s not going to work. It might look good on the surface but it is not going to be effective or legally recognized. I may not have much faith in The Bureaucracy, but I have far less in Facebook.
Consider:
How many of you or your friends have marked their relationship status as “it’s complicated” when clearly, it isn’t. Or used a name that isn’t quite legally accurate. Or changed your location, even on a lark. You do it because Facebook is not a legal entity. Sure, if someone felt vindictive they could ban your account, but you can’t go to jail or even be fined for misrepresentation on Facebook; it crosses too many political boundaries.
How is it going to work? Imagine your teen states on FB that they are an organ donor but they never officially signed up. In B.C., “registrants under the age of 19 must have a parent/legal guardian sign on their behalf,” so I can’t imagine it will have any legal weight for teens who haven’t officially registered. For that matter, I doubt it will have any weight for adults either. Following a declaration of brain death, medical staff check the official registry for a statement of intent. If there is no statement, they may still approach family members to ask but I guarantee you they are not going to check Facebook.
The one thing this will do is raise awareness. It’s going to get every news agency in North America reporting about the dire need for organ donors — this is legitimate.
It may also have the peer pressure effect, although really organ donation should be a carefully considered decision that is discussed with one’s family rather than a status one can change “because everyone else did.”
If you are in B.C. you can register online at transplant.bc.ca. It takes very little time and it can save a life (or more likely, several) in the event of your death.
Do it after you discuss it with your family. Do it because you want to help. Do it in the memory of someone you lost who was waiting for a transplant. But, please, don’t do it just because Zuckerberg told you to.