If you follow a lot of people on Facebook, you know that there can be a lot of noise on the social network. Quiz results, Candy Crush Saga accomplishments, new profile pictures. It can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, which means you're likely to tune most of it out.
But you're definitely going to want to pay attention to some new posts coming to Facebook. The company announced its partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children today, which means AMBER Alerts will soon be popping up in your News Feed.
How it works is Facebook will post AMBER Alerts in the News Feeds of users in targeted search areas after a child has gone missing and the National Center has sent an alert. The posts will include photos of the child, in addition to any other information available. Like regular Facebook posts, you'll be able to share this one on your own Timeline, something that many Facebook users have already done for years before this official partnership began.
"We know the chances of finding a missing child increase when more people are on the lookout, especially in the critical first hours," Facebook's Trust and Safety Manager Emily Vacher wrote in the official announcement of the program. "Our goal is to help get these alerts out quickly to the people who are in the best position to help."
Law enforcement sets the target area for each AMBER Alert, which means you could be seeing a few posts each year or none at all, depending on the AMBER Alerts issued in your area. Users will not get any push notifications sent to their phones. More than 725 children have been found since the AMBER Alerts program was launched in 1996.
This new initiative from Facebook continues the humanitarian efforts that the company has supported in the past few years. The social network launched its Disaster Response page in 2010 as a resource for users wanting to contribute to the relief effort of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. That same year, Mark Zuckerberg donated $100 million to Newark public schools. At the end of last year, Facebook launched a campaign to help fight Ebola, which included a donation button on the News Feed and a new heatlh education feature for those in affected areas.
Now doesn't all of that make you feel a whole lot better than just sending a sticker?
