The practical uses for Twitter in the UK and Ireland, beyond sharing news and personal updates, will now include emergency alerts. Twitter UK representative Steve Summers made the announcement on Sunday via a blog post on the company’s website.
See also: 10 Must-Follow Breaking News Accounts on Twitter
Joining the Twitter alert program are 57 official governmental agencies, including the London Metropolitan Police, the office of the Mayor of London, the Environment Agency, the Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre, the London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service. A full list of the agencies now offering the alert service can be found on Twitter’s website.
When the participating agencies post a tweet with the hashtag “alert,” the message will also be accompanied by an orange bell graphic , a visual add-on designed to emphasize the urgency of the message.
Users interested in signing up for the alert can subscribe via a special alert form on the participating agency’s Twitter account. In addition to app-based push notifications, users can also register their phone numbers with the agencies to receive SMS alert messages.
However, the company's instructions warn that your number will then be discoverable by others on Twitter unless you adjust the settings on your account.
In a statement obtained by Twitter, Metropolitan Police Service Commander David Martin said, “Getting fast and accurate information to the public in a major incident or terrorist attack really could make a life-saving difference.
“Using social networking sites, including Twitter, gives us additional ways to talk directly to the public. Twitter Alerts means that our messages will stand out when it most matters.”
BONUS: 9 Newsworthy Twitpics That Captivated the World
Haitian radio and TV host Carel Pedre captured a series of memorable images during January 2010. Pedre was given a special "humanitarian" award at the second annual "Shorty Awards" for his communications via Twitter during the crisis.
"There's a plane in the Hudson. I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy." So read Janis Krums' Twitpic description, posted on January 15, 2009. Miraculously, all passengers onboard were rescued.
Twitter user green67 was on hand to capture this dramatic photo as a notable business complex containing the celebrated CCTV tower in Beijing was burnt to the ground.
The news of a Turkish Airlines crash at an Amsterdam airport in February 2009 broke on Twitter. Twitter user Diederik uploaded the first image of the downed plane as official news outlets were still trying to confirm details of the incident. The image has nearly 100,000 views.
The Schultz Pass Fire in June 2010 spread across 5,000 acres and saw more than 750 homes evacuated. Lorraine B. Elder captured some striking panoramas of the fire, which she shared on Twitpic, giving those outside Arizona an amazing view of the catastrophe.
Beto Peralta's image of a Mexicali house damaged by the 7.2 earthquake in April 2010 has been viewed more than 35,000 times -- a stat that shows the power of the platform.
Architect Mahmoud El-Nahas says "[I] just found myself in #Jan25." This image shows the sheer size of the crowd, especially when compared to the small group of officers amongst them.
We have seen many images via Twitter of the terrible devastation in Christchurch following the recent earthquake, but TVNZ's Charlotte Bellis captured this moment just after the quake struck. The dust is still settling in the wake of the disaster.
Astronaut Soichi Noguchi has captivated many with his amazing Twitpics from the International Space Station -- many of the images have racked up more than 50,000 views each. This image of Port-au-Prince was taken 12 days after the January 12, 2010 earthquake and has been viewed more than 40,000 times.
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