Thursday, January 20, 2011

Amber Alerts on Facebook Now



Unfortunately, as much as we wouldn't want to hear such sad news, we do get to hear or watch on news that some kid has gone missing and that the parents are desperately looking for their children. Very often, radio alerts, city specific news updates are given so that anybody in that vicinity can help in finding such missing children. Text messages for such cases are also received if one has signed up. Responsible networks and organizations such as AOL, Yahoo, Google and Microsoft all help in disseminating such information.

And now facebook too will do this work of spreading the word around about missing children so that help is provided. Of course, this is all an optional feature and if one wants to specifically receive updates for his location, he will get updates only for that vicinity. Facebook is one of the most popular forms of viral communication and the word spreads around quickly, so it is hoped that this move will help in finding missing children.

The Amber alert program, which was established 15 years ago after the abduction and murder of its namesake, 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, has so far resulted in the recovery of 525 kids according to Ernie Allen, CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).