Adding Your Blood Type in Your Facebook Profile?

Have you seen this in your Facebook profile?

It elicits two questions from me:

1. Why?
2. What for?

A friend told me that knowing the blood type is actually important in Japan. From what I've googled about it, it seems to me like the practice sounds more like an obsession. This article explains what it's all about and how it started -- and what your Japanese friends might think about you now in case you've told them your blood type.

More interesting articles about Japan's fascination with blood types and personality here:

‘It’s My Blood Type’: Gaffe Minister Goes Quickly
Dating by blood type in Japan

Apparently, Facebook had already rolled out this feature specifically for Japan last February. Now I'm curious why my former Japanese colleagues didn't ask me about my blood type. Or maybe they did but I must've found it weird so I just forgot about it.

Anyway, the same feature is now available for everyone in the world. I didn't want to put in mine at first but, I did after a while out of curiousity. I wanted to know what might happen afterwards. I was half-hoping to see the "Blood Type" part in my profile to be clickable and lead me to an informative Facebook page about my blood type. But, alas, there was nothing. Dead end. Or is it?

After doing a bit more digging around Google, I eventually came upon these very inspiring bits of news:

Facebook Is Extending Its Network to Blood Donations
Facebook Blood Groups: Emergency Donations

See, this is what I was expecting my blood type info on Facebook to link to -- a built-in network of potential blood donors inside Facebook. Here in the Philippines, social media posts from people asking around for blood donation (due to a surgery, dengue, etc.) are common and come up too often. Since I can't donate blood (due to being "low blood"), all I could do is repost the urgent request or forward the contact info of PRC's or DOH's blood donation center. PRC and DOH could learn so much from what the Facebook Blood Groups and Takes All Types have done. I hope they act now.

As for Facebook, I'm still waiting for an explanation.