Twitter Unveils Emergency Alert System

Twitter on Wednesday announced Twitter Alerts, a new system that enables public institutions and NGOs to send out emergency alerts via text message and push notifications in times of crisis. Users can sign up to receive emergency notifications from specific accounts, and will receive a text or push notification when that account sends a tweet it labels as an alert

In addition to the texts and notifications, ‘alert’ tweets will appear alongside an orange bell icon in the Twitter stream

“Twitter Alerts [is] a new feature that brings us one step closer to helping users get important and accurate information from credible organizations during emergencies, natural disasters or moments when other communications services aren’t accessible,” explained Gaby Pe