Ottawa County Partners with Facebook to Test Local Alerts

General Press Release

February 28, 2019

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Ottawa County Among First to Partner with Facebook Local Alerts


Facebook selected just 25 pages to be included in the local alerts trial. Ottawa County was one of them.

Since August of 2018, Ottawa 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.

Local Alerts can be used at the County's discretion, and so far, 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. 

Local Alert Example

The Facebook Local Alert that was posted on Monday, February 25, 2019.

"We use Facebook Local Alerts with restraint," said Shannon Felgner, Ottawa County Communications Manager. "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