Steve Jobs Inspired Zuckerberg to Add Organ Donor Feature to Facebook

A conversation with his girlfriend and his friendship with Steve Jobs inspired Mark Zuckerberg to add a new organ donor feature to Facebook, according to ABC.

Conversations over the dinner table with his med-student girlfriend helped Mark Zuckerberg formulate his latest big idea - harnessing the power of Facebook to help eliminate the critical shortage of organs for patients desperately in need of life-saving transplants. And it was his friendship with Apple founder Steve Jobs, whose life was extended by years following a liver transplant, in part, that spurred the 27-year-old Facebook founder and CEO to help put that idea into practice.


"That definitely, I think, was something that we all had in mind as we were building this out... His story is just one of many, of people who both were able to have an organ transplant that made his life longer and he was extremely thankful for that," Zuckerberg said.

Beginning today, U.S. and U.K. users can add that they're organ donors to their Timeline. If they're not an organ donor they can locate links to registries to enroll.

"We want to make it simple," said Zuckerberg. "You just put in the state or country that you're from, so that we can help link you to the official registries."

Back in 2010, Steve Jobs, an organ recipient himself, spoke at the ceremonial signing of legislation to create the nation's first living donor registry for kidney transplants and increase organ donation opportunities for Californians.