{"id":158737,"date":"2019-08-28T18:09:53","date_gmt":"2019-08-28T10:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geek.com\/featured\/-1801967\/"},"modified":"2019-08-28T18:09:53","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T10:09:53","slug":"facebook-expands-local-alerts-to-more-u-s-jurisdictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/test\/wordpress\/2019\/08\/28\/facebook-expands-local-alerts-to-more-u-s-jurisdictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook Expands Local Alerts to More U.S. Jurisdictions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Facebook is expanding local alerts in the US
\nto help governments and first responders keep people safe and in-the-know (via Facebook)<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Facebook is rolling out local alerts to more governments and first responders in the US.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the end of this year, any eligible Facebook Page will have access to the social network’s signaling tool\u2014currently limited to a handful of jurisdictions in the US and Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Since early 2018, we’ve partnered with local authorities across the country to test this new, free tool designed to help them communicate urgent, need-to-know information when it directly affects people in their communities or requires them to take action,” Facebook Product Manager Anthea Watson Strong wrote in an announcement<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Posts marked as a local alert (with the yellow caution-sign emoji) indicate anything from flash flood warnings, mandatory evacuations, missing people reports, and water main breaks to active shooters, road closures, winter storms, extreme temperature warnings, and bomb threats.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meant to be used sparingly to communicate important information, the feature should be a supplement\u2014not a replacement\u2014for other emergency alert systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

“When authorities mark posts as local alerts, we greatly amplify their reach so that people living in an affected community are much more likely to see them,” Watson Strong said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tennessee’s Mt. Juliet Police Department recently used local alerts to help locate a 64-year-old man who’d gone missing; Fulton County Emergency Management in Illinois managed to divert traffic after a house exploded due to a gas leak.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Miami Beach government, meanwhile, tapped into the system to warn folks of a bomb threat; and Louisiana’s Tangipahoa Parish authorities used it to provide real-time updates on Hurricane Barry.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Many of our partners have found local alerts to be a useful addition to their toolkit to help keep people safe,” Watson Strong wrote, boasting about updates that make the alerts smarter and more targeted.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems to be working.<\/span><\/p>\n

A majority of Facebook users who have seen posts marked as local alerts found the information beneficial; 43 percent reported taking action as a result of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

City or county government, local emergency management or fire department, or local law enforcement in the US can sign up online<\/a> to access local alerts once they’ve expanded into more regions.<\/span><\/p>\n

More on Geek.com:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n