A Twitter service letting emergency services and government agencies send out push notifications and text messages to their followers launched in Britain and Ireland on Monday. Following their introduction in the US and Japan in September, Twitter alerts are now available for 58 organisations in the UK and Ireland, including the Environment Agency, the Foreign Office and all 47 of the UK’s police forces.
The service lets the organisations mark certain tweets as alerts, highlighting them with an orange bell on users’ timelines. Those who follow the account have the added option of signing up for notifications directly to their phone, through a text message or a push notification from the Twitter app.
“Getting fast and accurate information to the public in a major incident or terrorist attack really could make a life-saving difference,” says the Met police commander David Martin. “Using social networking sites, including Twitter, gives us additional ways to talk directly to the public. Twitter alerts means that our messages will stand out when it most matters.”
The alerts fulfil a similar function to the mobile phone alert system tested by the UK government in September. That system also lets organisations send short text messages to users in emergency situations. But the governmental system, currently being tested in three parts of the UK, automatically messages every person in the affected area. As a result, its use is limited to pre-specified “civil emergency” events, including disease pandemics, coastal flooding and terrorist attacks.
The British proposals contrast with Twitter alerts, which are an opt-in service that can be used for any purpose the account-holder sees fit. That should reduce the likelihood of complaints, like those which followed the California Highway Patrol’s use of its “amber alert” system to find two missing children.
Source: The Guardian
