Facebook status boosts organ donor registration; how to update yours

The Washington Times | Laura Sesana
Photo: American Journal of Transplantation
WASHINGTON, June 24, 2013 â€" A study published last week in the American Journal of Transplantation showed that Facebook’s addition of an organ donor option in the “life events” section of a user’s timeline boosted organ donation registration by 21 times the average daily rate.

The study, conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, gathered Facebook and online motor vehicle organ donation registration information from May 1, 2012, which was the day the Facebook campaign launched, to May 28, 2012. The researchers then compared the number of Facebook organ donor profile updates with organ registration data from 43 states and the District of Columbia. The study left out Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and West Virginia because data was unavailable. 

The results were surprising. On the first day that Facebook allowed the information to show up on profiles and timelines, close to 57,000 added the label to their profiles and 13,054 people registered to become an organ donor online. This represented 21.2 times the regular number of 616 people who register online in one day. 

The effect of this first day ranged widely between states, with a 6.9-fold increase in Michigan and an amazing 108.9-fold increase in Georgia.
______________________________________________________ 
"You have the power to SAVE lives." 
To register as a donor in California: 
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 
Outside California: 
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

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