Facebook adds amber alerts to do its share in helping find missing kids! On Tuesday, Facebook revealed that it'll include amber alerts in the news feeds of 185 million users in the United States, as reported by an article in Tech News World.
Facebook adds amber alerts in a project implemented in cooperation with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Facebook adds amber alerts within certain search areas only.
Amber alerts are added both on Facebook desktop and mobile versions. The app may be shared with each other among users. Photos and other pertinent information about missing children are shared in amber alerts. Links for further information about each child are also available in the alert apps.
Emily Vacher, Facebook's trust and safety manager, revealed, as reported in an article in The Fuse Joplin:
"In 2014, an 11-year-old girl was safely recovered after a motel owner recognized her from an Amber Alert that a friend had shared on Facebook,"
"The woman called the police, and the child was found unharmed".
"It's amazing word-of-mouth efforts like this that inspired us to develop a more systematic way to help find missing children on Facebook."
In an interview with Tech News World, Greg Sterling, a vice president for strategy at the Local Search Association, had this to say about the benefit that FB amber alerts bring:
"In a media landscape that is now so fragmented, Facebook is one of the few channels that has near-total penetration across most demographic groups,"
"I expect that more missing children will be recovered as a result of the partnership."