Those who know me, know that am am ever-so-slightly inclined towards the moral high ground, especially where responsibilities of large organisations are concerned. This has led to me having, well, one or two digs at Facebook in the past for their sometimes cavalier attitude towards privacy and child safety.
But recently they've made some pretty good moves: there was the anti-bullying initiative and a referral system for friends expressing suicidal thoughts. Now comes an 'Organ Donation Status' which will hopefully push up the numbers of people around the globe currently registered to be organ donors. In the US, UK, Australia and the Netherlands, people can now say they are an organ donor as part of their "Facebook Timeline" (though note that this move hasn't rolled out yet, not to my Facebook account at least). Facebook hopes to widen the scheme to other countries around the globe, which would be really great to see.
To set your status, go to your timeline, and choose 'Life Event' in your status update box, then 'Health and Wellness' and 'Organ Donor'.
This could have such wonderful consequences: it's estimated that more than 114,000 people in the U.S, around 10,000 people in the UK and millions more around the world are waiting for a suitable organ. Many, many of those people will die waiting, because there simply aren't enough organ donors to meet the need.
In the UK, the NHS said only half of registered organ donors told their families that they wanted to donate their organs after death. If somebody is on the register then legally the organs can be used for transplantation. However, organs are not taken if the family is too upset by the prospect - but if relatives know the person's wishes, they are far more likely to consent to the removal. And the other beneficial effect is that this 'Organ Donor' status' just gets the word out there - makes people see it as normal, even aspirational, especially amongst some of the harder to reach groups who may never have considered it in the past.
Note that you still need to click through to the relevant organ donation body in your country to sign up - but Facebook will provide the link and make it a simple process.
So keep an eye out for the appearance of the Organ Donor Status - and let your friends know that you care about more than lolcats :)