Since its launch in 2006, the microblogging service, Twitter, was fast gaining hip, young users at an unprecedented pace, and its trio of co-founders - Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey - had been splashed across magazine covers as the embodiment of San Francisco cool.
Now, disaster-weary Filipinos have turned to Twitter for quick information about emergency situations, from the MV St. Thomas of Aquinas-MV Sulpicio Express Siete collision that claimed more than a hundred lives to the torrential rain that officials said had killed 17 people and forced more than half a million from flooded homes.
In the immediate aftermath, however, it's tough to know what's true and who to trust. Twitter is moving to change that today with Twitter Alerts, which will provide users with notifications about emergency situations from trusted sources.
"Twitter Alerts ... brings us one step closer to helping users get important and accurate information during emergencies, natural disasters or when other communications services aren't accessible," Twitter said in a blog post.
Twitter has partnered with dozens of organizations, including the American Red Cross, FEMA, the World Health Organization, and various state and local groups.
Even the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was reported to be among the first Philippine agencies to avail of the Twitter Alerts system.
To subscribe to these alerts, one can visit the group's alert page, which can be found by adding /alerts to the end of its Twitter address. The MMDA page, for example, should be located at twitter.com/mmda/alerts. There, subscriber can supposedly click the "Activate Alerts" button. Unfortunately, if you try it now, you may received a notice that the system may not be able to contact MMDA immediately since the Twitter Alerts system is "just getting started."
Once it is fully operational, the system will ask users to enter their phone number to receive Twitter Alerts via text, at which point one will need to send a confirmation text. Then, when the organization sends an alert, the subscriber will will receive a text message. Those using the Twitter iOS and Android apps (iOS 5.1+ and Android 4.1.6+) will also get push notifications. Meanwhile, tweets from the group will be designated with an orange bell in the subscriber's feed. One can stop the alerts by texting "stop" to the confirmation number, or by unchecking "Tweet Alerts" under Mobile in the settings.
According to Twitter, a group can determine when they send an alert, but they will most likely be reserved for: warnings for imminent dangers; preventive instructions; evacuation directions; urgent safety alerts; information on access to essential resources; information on critical transit and utility outages; and crowd and misinformation management.
Now, disaster-weary Filipinos have turned to Twitter for quick information about emergency situations, from the MV St. Thomas of Aquinas-MV Sulpicio Express Siete collision that claimed more than a hundred lives to the torrential rain that officials said had killed 17 people and forced more than half a million from flooded homes.
In the immediate aftermath, however, it's tough to know what's true and who to trust. Twitter is moving to change that today with Twitter Alerts, which will provide users with notifications about emergency situations from trusted sources.
"Twitter Alerts ... brings us one step closer to helping users get important and accurate information during emergencies, natural disasters or when other communications services aren't accessible," Twitter said in a blog post.
Twitter has partnered with dozens of organizations, including the American Red Cross, FEMA, the World Health Organization, and various state and local groups.
Even the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was reported to be among the first Philippine agencies to avail of the Twitter Alerts system.
To subscribe to these alerts, one can visit the group's alert page, which can be found by adding /alerts to the end of its Twitter address. The MMDA page, for example, should be located at twitter.com/mmda/alerts. There, subscriber can supposedly click the "Activate Alerts" button. Unfortunately, if you try it now, you may received a notice that the system may not be able to contact MMDA immediately since the Twitter Alerts system is "just getting started."
Once it is fully operational, the system will ask users to enter their phone number to receive Twitter Alerts via text, at which point one will need to send a confirmation text. Then, when the organization sends an alert, the subscriber will will receive a text message. Those using the Twitter iOS and Android apps (iOS 5.1+ and Android 4.1.6+) will also get push notifications. Meanwhile, tweets from the group will be designated with an orange bell in the subscriber's feed. One can stop the alerts by texting "stop" to the confirmation number, or by unchecking "Tweet Alerts" under Mobile in the settings.
According to Twitter, a group can determine when they send an alert, but they will most likely be reserved for: warnings for imminent dangers; preventive instructions; evacuation directions; urgent safety alerts; information on access to essential resources; information on critical transit and utility outages; and crowd and misinformation management.
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