Trending News|January 19, 2015 12:41 EST
Facebook Update News: Social Media Site to Post Amber Alerts For Missing Children
If you are an avid Facebook user, your News Feed is where you get most of your juicy tidbits, and any other information about the world. This may be part of the reason why Facebook has decided to include AMBER alerts in the News Feed.
AMBER is an alert system to spread awareness of a recently abducted child so that people can keep their eyes peeled for a missing child in their area. When Facebook includes this alert system, they will be expanding the program's reach into the social media world, and a great majority of today's population.
The integration will begin on Tuesday, for National Amber Alert Awareness Day. The post will allow users to click on the feed for more details and share the information. It will not trigger a notification, and will only be deployed under time-sensitive situations. According to Facebook, the average user may rarely see an AMBER alert.
"We would never want someone to see this and say, 'Oh, another one of those,'" Emily Vacher commented. Emily works on Facebook's trust and safety team. "We really want people to know these are rare so that they'll take notice and know they're in a position to help."
The alerts will vary based on where the abductions take place. It will look at the users' location information before sending any information. The Department of Justice has applauded AMBER's partnership with Facebook, as they believe it will improve the results of bringing children home.