OTTAWA COUNTY (WHTC-AM/FM) — Ottawa County officials disclosed that the county has been beta testing a new feature on Facebook: Local Alerts. Local alerts enable Ottawa County to provide the community with time-sensitive, essential information. With the extreme weather over the past month, the tool has proven itself particularly helpful, according to Shannon Felgner, Ottawa County Communications Manager.
Local Alerts can be used at the County’s discretion, and so far, she said in a written statement sent to media, they have been employed for beach hazards, road conditions, severe weather and building closures. Most recently, a Facebook Local Alert was sent during a Monday morning power outage impacting services at the Ottawa County Fillmore Street Complex.
“We use Facebook Local Alerts with restraint,” Felgner said. “We will mark posts as local alerts when they contain information that we believe residents need to know to stay safe or to plan their day.”
“We appreciate that Facebook is providing this service for local governments and first responders and are honored to be taking part in the test group,” said Felgner. Ottawa County learned of the opportunity to apply for the trial last summer through its membership in the Government Social Media Organization. “Ottawa County has historically been early adopters of social media, but were competing with cities and counties nationwide for this opportunity. I was hopeful, but also realistic. When we were selected, I was thrilled.” As part of the trial, Ottawa County participates in periodic online meetings with Facebook headquarters and provides product feedback.
How Do Facebook Local Alerts Work?
Typically, Facebook makes predictions on what a user prefers to see in their news feed based on thousands of pieces of data collected over time. (Also known as “the algorithm”) On any given day, an Ottawa County post may be served to half of its page followers. However, if Ottawa County marks its post as a Local Alert, all of the followers of the Ottawa County page will receive a notification about the post. Local Alerts can be marked to serve the content countywide among page followers or to followers in specific cities within Ottawa County.
“It allows us to meet people where they are and, with very little action on their part, keep them informed. Because Local Alerts will only send notifications to page followers, residents will still need to be sure that they are following Ottawa County on Facebook,” said Felgner.
Facebook Local Alerts are not intended to replace other emergency notification systems, but enhance them. In addition to Facebook, Ottawa County offers Smart911, Rave, email subscriptions, Instagram and Twitter to communicate with residents. A complete list of ways to engage is available at https://www.miottawa.org/Connect/
Widespread Availability
Facebook has not yet disclosed when Local Alerts will be available to all first responder and government offices. Other municipality Facebook pages testing the feature include:
- Gilbert Town Hall
- King County, Washington – Government
- Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services
- City of Boca Raton FL Government
- Mountain View Police Department
- County of San Diego
- City of Lenexa Kansas Government
- Lenexa Police Department
- City of La Vista Government
- City of Blaine, Minnesota, Government
- BlaineBizMN
- BlaineParksMN
- Blaine Police Department
- Jefferson County Sherriff’s Office
- Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
- Anderson County Sheriff’s Office – Emergency Management
- Anderson County Sheriff’s Office SC
- Mecklenburg County Government
- Round Rock, Texas – City Government
- Skagit County Department of Emergency Management – DEM
- City of Cape Girardeau Municipal Government
- RileyCountyPD
- Fulton County ESDA
- Waukegan Township
