Amber Alerts were created in 1996 after a young girl, Amber Hagerman, was abducted and murdered. For years Amber Alerts could be found on marquees on interstates, scrolling down the bottom of television screens, and through text messages.
Now, according to this article Amber Alerts have been implemented through Facebook. Amber Alerts has also started a Twitter page. However, they feel that at this point in time Facebook has been more beneficial because Facebook gets viewed more than any other site across the planet.
I think this is a great idea because now in addition to the other outlets that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has implemented these alerts are now just a click or an update away. Ernie Allen, the President and CEO of the NCMEC, explains that Facebook users who "like" the Amber Alert page have the option for which states they receive updates from.
I think this is an awesome way to help save children lives. Social Media has proven its ability to spread things like wildfire so I hope now that the NCMEC has joined, we can see Social Networks be used in additonal postive manner!
Friend them today!!
This is another example of using social media for a greater good. The amber alert system really has been proven to save children, and now this will reach an even greater population. I just hope that people don't take advantage and report false reports of missing children. Good topic!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea because it's reaching people where they are the majority of the day- online. DO you know if the Amber Alerts on Facebook are divided up based on state or region? Sometimes social media gets bad publicity because of a few people taking advantage of others by hacking or committing more severe crimes, but this just goes to show that social media does have a far greater purpose.
ReplyDeleteOne of my weather apps on my phone started sending me Amber Alerts last week. That's another way to reach the mass when they may not be in their cars driving.
I love that they are using Facebook for such a good cause! There are hundreds of millions of people on Facebook who check it every day, even multiple times in a day. Another perk of this is that it gives people a chance to respond quickly if they have any details regarding the abduction, as opposed to having to figure out where to call if you have information.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a great idea. Millions of people can be reached in emergency cases.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned AMBER alerts in my post this week, but rather as rumors people have started. While it's a useful method, some ignorant people take advantage of it and create false alerts.
This is so great! I'm excited to see more Not-for-profit organizations taking advantage of social media and systems like this. I wasn't aware that Amber Alert had a Facebook or Twitter. I just recently started following a lot of military and Marine non-profit organizations on Twitter to get updates on anything related to the Marine Corps since my brother was just deployed. It's good to know we can still be updated on smaller organizations throughout the country.
ReplyDeleteI like that Amber Alerts will be sent through social media outlets rather than other mass media outlets like TV and radio, since social media has proven to be the largest overall audience. I'm going to follow Amber Alert now!
I think this is a perfect example of utilizing social media to the fullest. I know personally, I don't watch much TV so I would not see an Amber Alert in that way. I am on Facebook at least three times a day, so it would get my attention.
ReplyDeleteI hope this campaign continues to grow and is successful. Hopefully this will cause a decrease in child abduction and Americans can have a huge part through social media.
I think this is a fantastic idea. I could definitely see this being a success just because of the amount of people on Facebook and how quickly things spread on it. This is another great way of how social media can be used for the greater good, just like how it helps out with the tragic events going on in Japan right now.
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