Facebook introduces a new feature which will allow them to send out geo targeted notifications when an Amber Alert is in progress. The alerts will work on both their web and mobile apps and hopes to help the community quickly find missing children by using it’s platform to quickly disseminate the alert.
Facebook announced this new feature in a news post published at Facebook newsroom site. According to Facebook, this feature will help people spread the word quickly about any lost or missing child in any area by sending out AMBER alerts to users in that specific region. Facebook will also gather information from the local authorities and law enforcement agencies around the country and will make that information available to users as well. They explained that the AMBER alert will include photos and necessary details like what type of clothes he/she was wearing, any birth marks, ethnicity etc. about the missing child that will potentially help identifying the missing child.
As soon as there is an AMBER alert in an area users of that area will see the alert on their news feed – be it on browser or on Android/IOS apps; though the alert will not send a push notification to a user’s device.
It’s a great initiative taken on by Facebook and a great and clever way of giving back to the community. Considering how many people spend time on social networks, this service can be a hit and a worthwhile effort in finding missing children.
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