Facebook Tests Local Alerts For Disasters

Facebook wants to help users find information about emergency strikes or disasters in real time.

On Wednesday, Facebook said that over 100 first responders and local authorities that have Facebook pages are conducting tests on “local alerts”.

Accordingly, Facebook users will see a local alert label in their News Feed as well as “Today In”, a news section for local areas that the social network tested earlier this year.

Anthea Watson Strong, product manager for local news and community information at the tech giant, wrote on her blog post that it is crucial to people that they receive timely updates on the domestic situations in which they are directly affected or required to take actions, blackouts, severe road closures or natural disasters for example.

Among social networks, Twitter and Facebook are playing a more critical role in responding to disasters. Still, the tech giants have to tackle several online issues such as fake photos, scams and especially misinformation.

In September, during the Florence hurricane, the City of Charlotte Government in North Carolina posted an alert for local residents on its Facebook page.

The world’s largest social network is broadening the local news section on its platform to more cities. The feature is already available in over 400 US cities. The company is also testing the feature in Australia and communities with few updates on local situations.

If you want to find out whether “Today In” has come to your area, use this interactive map.

When you click on the link, you will see the world map, under which is “Find your city” next to an empty box. Type in the name of the city and country that you want to check, and Facebook will tell you if the feature is available there yet. You can also see the full list of cities supported by this feature by clicking on “See all cities”, which are in alphabet order.