A lot of government agencies use Twitter for breaking news, notifications, and alerts that they’re trying to get out as quickly as possible to as many people as possible, such as tornado warnings, amber alerts, traffic conditions, etc. I can’t imagine they’d stick around a platform that requires logging in to view these messages.
This morning storm Poly smashed the Netherlands, especially North Holland (Amsterdam region). Digital emergency alert system was used, three times, and directed people to Twitter.
Which was closed, of course. It’s a political shitshow right now. Amsterdam municipality already runs its own Mastodon, and this fuckup will probably have consequences in moving official broadcast channels off Twitter.
Nonsense like this is why I believe outdoor warning sirens are still incredibly important. Mobile alerts are not foolproof, and can be bungled horribly, and not everybody has their phone on them, or a phone at all. If there’s a severe storm or tornado coming, you need to know ASAP. Sirens are an excellent way of getting people indoors, regardless of who’s outside. I heard the Netherlands was considering decommissioning its countrywide siren system, which I thought was absolutely fucking stupid. What you posted proves exactly why.
Kind of terrible that we ever got to this point. I’ve seen announcements from government agencies that are ONLY available on social media. Who thought that was okay?
The joys of neoliberalism and privatization. When you’re convinced the private sector can do no wrong and the government can do no right, is it any surprise that this is the outcome?
A lot of government agencies use Twitter for breaking news, notifications, and alerts that they’re trying to get out as quickly as possible to as many people as possible, such as tornado warnings, amber alerts, traffic conditions, etc. I can’t imagine they’d stick around a platform that requires logging in to view these messages.
This morning storm Poly smashed the Netherlands, especially North Holland (Amsterdam region). Digital emergency alert system was used, three times, and directed people to Twitter.
Which was closed, of course. It’s a political shitshow right now. Amsterdam municipality already runs its own Mastodon, and this fuckup will probably have consequences in moving official broadcast channels off Twitter.
Nonsense like this is why I believe outdoor warning sirens are still incredibly important. Mobile alerts are not foolproof, and can be bungled horribly, and not everybody has their phone on them, or a phone at all. If there’s a severe storm or tornado coming, you need to know ASAP. Sirens are an excellent way of getting people indoors, regardless of who’s outside. I heard the Netherlands was considering decommissioning its countrywide siren system, which I thought was absolutely fucking stupid. What you posted proves exactly why.
Kind of terrible that we ever got to this point. I’ve seen announcements from government agencies that are ONLY available on social media. Who thought that was okay?
The joys of neoliberalism and privatization. When you’re convinced the private sector can do no wrong and the government can do no right, is it any surprise that this is the outcome?
Welcome to the dumbest timeline