Twitter to help in disaster alerts – but not for India yet

Twitter Inc, which is preparing for its initial public offering, said on Wednesday it will help users receive special alerts from government agencies and aid agencies during emergencies.

Users who sign up for the services will receive notifications via the Twitter app on smartphones as well as SMS text messages from any of several dozen agencies who have signed on to the programme.

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency, Tokyo's National Disaster Prevention System and the World Health Organization are among those participating.

There is no word yet about this service being available in India, one of the world's most disaster-prone nations.

The alerts programme starts a year after Twitter showcased its potential as a lifeline during Hurricane Sandy, when stranded residents on the eastern US seaboard reported the storm's progress and sought help on the mobile network.

A similar lifeline service played a part in the rescue efforts in Japan following the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Twitter said. The programme is initially available in the United States, Japan and Korea and will be expanded to other countries.

The programme reflects the evolution of Twitter from its earliest days, when it gained a reputation as a hangout for geeks to share the minute details of their most recent meal or who they encountered at a music festival or other events.

But the crowd-sourced information of today's Twitter has its problems. Even as the New York City Fire Department used Twitter to communicate with residents during Hurricane Sandy, there were pranksters who spread misinformation on the service, including a rumour that the New York Stock Exchange was submerged under water.

Again, in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, the name of a missing Brown University student went viral on Twitter after many users, including journalists, mistakenly identified him as a suspect.

Twitter, for its part, has maintained a strictly hands-off attitude toward monitoring its content and disowned responsibility for ensuring accuracy.

Earlier this month, Twitter filed papers with regulators for an initial public offering. The social networking site is in talks to add additional banks to its underwriting syndicate.