Facebook's Missing Child Alerts for UK Users
Facebook isn't just about sharing selfies, liking videos and bragging about the meal you just whipped up. It is now becoming a genuine tool to help children whose lives are at risk.
The Social Network has partnered up with Missing People, the National Crime Agency and Groupcall Limited to help make their new Child Rescue Alerts prompt, up-to-date and extensive.
Any people located in the search party's area will see the alert and the hope is that more people than ever before will get this sort of information much quicker.
If a child goes missing in your area you will see the alert appear as the second post on your news feed. These alerts can include any information from a photo of the child, a relevant description and the location where the child was last seen. The search isn't limited to just a local area either, it can be issued on a regional or even national basis. Meanwhile, any user that sees one of Facebook's Child Rescue Alerts can also share the post with their friends to raise awareness too, meaning the chain of possibilities are endless.
The alert also comes with a phone number to call if a user thinks they have any information on the missing child.
Whilst seeing the faces of lost children might not be the reason you go on Facebook, you have to admit Facebook should probably try to use it's powers for good. Besides, we can be hopeful that posts of these kind shouldn't be appearing too frequently on your news feed anyway.
For as long as I can remember I have seen pages for missing animals in local areas and we have all read the success stories about people who have been reunited via Facebook. I'm sure many of us have even done our part to share statuses put out by distressed families who are looking for someone.
But you couldn't always trust the integrity or necessarily see the time sensitivity of these user-run pages/posts, which is why it was important for Facebook to bring in their own, legitimate, tamper-proof version. Facebook have even released a statement saying that these posts should be taken with the utmost sincerity, as they will only issue an alert if the child is believed to be at serious risk or their life is in danger.
With the Amber Alert system being implemented in North America earlier this year, a similar service released in the Netherlands and South Korea too, Facebook have said their goal is "to continue to distribute it across the world."
The Social Network has partnered up with Missing People, the National Crime Agency and Groupcall Limited to help make their new Child Rescue Alerts prompt, up-to-date and extensive.
 |
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/ |
Any people located in the search party's area will see the alert and the hope is that more people than ever before will get this sort of information much quicker.
If a child goes missing in your area you will see the alert appear as the second post on your news feed. These alerts can include any information from a photo of the child, a relevant description and the location where the child was last seen. The search isn't limited to just a local area either, it can be issued on a regional or even national basis. Meanwhile, any user that sees one of Facebook's Child Rescue Alerts can also share the post with their friends to raise awareness too, meaning the chain of possibilities are endless.
The alert also comes with a phone number to call if a user thinks they have any information on the missing child.
 |
| http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ |
Whilst seeing the faces of lost children might not be the reason you go on Facebook, you have to admit Facebook should probably try to use it's powers for good. Besides, we can be hopeful that posts of these kind shouldn't be appearing too frequently on your news feed anyway.
For as long as I can remember I have seen pages for missing animals in local areas and we have all read the success stories about people who have been reunited via Facebook. I'm sure many of us have even done our part to share statuses put out by distressed families who are looking for someone.
But you couldn't always trust the integrity or necessarily see the time sensitivity of these user-run pages/posts, which is why it was important for Facebook to bring in their own, legitimate, tamper-proof version. Facebook have even released a statement saying that these posts should be taken with the utmost sincerity, as they will only issue an alert if the child is believed to be at serious risk or their life is in danger.
With the Amber Alert system being implemented in North America earlier this year, a similar service released in the Netherlands and South Korea too, Facebook have said their goal is "to continue to distribute it across the world."
Megan Herdson
Megan is a country girl who moved to the city with some big dreams. She is studying her MA in Creative Writing whilst also managing an American Football Team. She loves her blog and wants nothing more than to have her words read. That and to win the Championship, obviously. Follow her @MeganAtSMF
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Facebook's Missing Child Alerts for UK Users
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Friday, September 18, 2015
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Reviewed by Unknown
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Friday, September 18, 2015
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Unknown
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