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Old 24-04-2023, 08:59   #67
Chris
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Re: UK Emergency Alert Mobile Phone Test - 3pm 23/04

Quote:
Originally Posted by peanut View Post
So the test was a failure, so I'd expect it to be tested again at some point even though El Gov said it was a success. Three network are looking into why it didn't happen. Three or the Gov can't explain why it didn't happen for some.

In the age of social media and 24 hour news, it does seems like a bit of a pointless exercise.
Not everyone who has a smartphone uses Facebook or Tw*tr regularly, if at all. In a situation where there’s immediate threat to life you can’t rely on someone checking Facebook to find out. What this system is, in effect, is a hard-coded messaging app with uber-push capabilities. It relies on our love of smartphones because that’s what gives it the ability to reach (almost) everyone, immediately. When you look at the TV coverage of people in their local high street yesterday, how many of them would have been checking Facebook or Tw*tr often enough to have got the alert anything like as quickly?

I have no idea whether they declared the test a success because they’re incapable of telling the truth about anything or if they have data from comparable systems elsewhere in the world. Regardless, now they’ve gone down this route I hope they’re committed to doing it properly, even if that means research, improvement and another national test.
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