Was Friday's message suitable content for an emergency alert?
This is not a discussion of the specific harms of the system: the
revelation of hidden phones, the stress and panic caused, the increase
in road accidents. That's all been discussed well elsewhere. It's not
even about the implementation detail: most people want to stop the
horrible noise as a priority, so they do that (on an unfamiliar
interface), and then realise that the text of the alert is no longer
displayed and it's not at all obvious where to find it.
No, this is about what is a suitable subject for the channel. I think
most people assumed that something with such potential for distraction
and interruption should be used only for things that need to be known
right now: the volcano is erupting, someone is shooting people in
the high street (and it's not the police), the hurricane is coming, do
not even finish your cup of tea but get to shelter this instant. For
example, the first non-testing use in the UK was in 2024, to warn the
residents of Plymouth that a live bomb had been uncovered and they
should leave a specific area.
Instead, this use was not time-sensitive at all: it said the same
things that have been being said for the last month and more. A
televised speech and coordinated newspaper articles would have been a
much more suitable platform. (And commercial social media can be paid
to push it out too.)
I am confirmed in my decision to disable these alerts on any new phone
and instead rely on the Atom
feed and my own infrastructure.
Meanwhile, remember that unlike domestic gardens golf courses are
still not subject to any water use restrictions, so if you want to
have a barbecue, you know where to go.