The fact that social networks can play a very positive role is something that no one questions, The problem is, they’re not in the habit.. So it’s fair to acknowledge and celebrate when they do, and Instagram adding AMBER alerts is a perfect example of this. As a person who is often quite critical of social networks, it would make me very happy and perhaps less critical to be able to report similar reports more often.

And seven years after her sister social network Facebook took the same step, Instagram will start displaying AMBER notifications in users’ feeds Meta services. In my opinion, a huge success, because precisely because of its audience, which is younger than Facebook, there is a growing number of people who, alerted by disappearance notifications, are exponentially expanding the network of coverage of these notifications.

If you do not know them or at least do not identify them by name, the AMBER alerts that will be included in Instagram are emergency alert system for minors. Although its name comes from America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and therefore originated in the United States in 1996, over the years the system has spread to many other countries on both sides of the pond.

There is a consensus that when a minor disappears, The first few hours are criticalbecause they provide a better chance of success in identifying victims. Social networks like Instagram thus contribute to the visibility of alerts in this way, all the more so because they do so in an automated and therefore fast way, and moreover these alerts reach people who, due to age, have more opportunities to see missing potentials can make a huge difference.

Publication of AMBER alerts depends on law enforcement, and in this sense we have been seeing reports of this type published on social networks by various authorities for some time. However, if this collaboration systematises the publication of the same, the system that Instagram now offers may be much more effective.

Deploying this feature will send AMBER alerts to 25 countries in a few weeks, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Jamaica, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and United States of America. Spain is not in this first round, but the company says on its blog that they are still working to add other countries’ alert systems. All a success and a big step from Instagram.