With Facebook boasting about 1.5 billion monthly active users, it basically means that there are a lot of eyeballs on the social network at any given time. While this is a perfect opportunity for advertisers to place their ads in front of millions of users, it can also be used for good, which is what Facebook will be doing in the UK.
The company has recently announced that they will be introducing Child Rescue Alerts into the News Feeds of its UK users. Basically what this does is that it will display information about missing children in the News Feeds of its users, thus making users more aware and also allowing them to contact the authorities in the event that they might seen or heard something related to the missing child.
It will also allow them to share the information, and given that this is an initiative backed by Facebook, the post will have more credibility attached to it. According to Jo Youle, the CEO of the Missing People group who is also behind Child Rescue Alerts, “Every minute after a child’s disappearance is crucial to bringing them home safely. This fantastic new partnership with Facebook will mean even more members of the public can help safeguard children in the most extreme danger – and hopefully save a child’s life.”
A spokesperson for National Crime Agency adds, “The speed at which a large number of people can be reached and the opportunities for targeting the search area through Facebook will be valuable tools for police forces in the event of issuing a CRA.”