Live WEA Tests - there are rules for a reason

Live WEA tests are used to test the WEA system from end to end. This includes engaging the public who are receiving your messages and, in some cases, responding to them by clicking a link or reporting back in some other manner, For example, this past March, the New York State Police conducted a live WEA Test in order to ensure that their AMBER Alert system could handle the traffic associated with future events. Prior to issuing the alert, they worked with local media to ensure the public was aware of the time that the alert would be sent and the reason for the test. These are FCC requirements and you can read about them here.

You can see in their message that the NYSP also clearly indicated in multiple places that this was a TEST of the phone and it was a TEST MESSAGE. They explained the purpose of the test and invited message receivers to share their experiences of the TEST message by clicking a link.

NYSP WEA Test Message

Traffic on social media indicated that people were startled by the noise and wondered if it was necessary to test the system. But we didn't see any questions about the message itself; it was clearly communicated, leaving no doubt that this was a TEST, a TEST of the phone and a TEST MESSAGE.

Let's compare this with another recent test message issued in the state of Utah.

I learned about this message when a colleague sent it to me out of curiosity. He thought it was real. Many people thought it was real. In fact, it is difficult to recognize that it was a test message, even though the word "Test" is included twice (in place the victim and suspect names).

Utah WEA Test message

While there was some media engagement to promote the test a few days before it occurred, there was also a clear indication that the test message would not appear with the contents found here.

When we look at the social media comments, we see a rather confused public that asked questions about the victim/suspect:

For example, one person wrote "so I get this Amber alert with descriptions of the

vehicle, the suspect and the victim. But then i do an internet search to find out what

"suspect is test" means. Is "Test" and acronym for something or what? I finally arrived

here only to find that it was all a joke. Well haha."

Another person also looked for more information saying "the child abduction notification on TV is a joke, Limited information and missing a lot of critical facts. Same with my cell phone notification. It directs you to the gov site that says "No current abductions".

Seeing people go to such efforts to confirm information about a child abduction is heartening until you realize that this Test alert is going to reduce their faith in future alerts.

Another person asked: "was this sent in error? Or a genuine test? If an actual test, you should identify it as such rather than making people wonder if it's a malfunction or something they need to act on."

Similarly, one person wrote "And oh yes, instead of telling us right at the top that "this is a test," you tell us "Child's Life in Danger!" but none of this alert is true. How are we to take future "alerts" seriously?"

One person recalled a previous AMBER alert issued by Utah, by saying "its gry toyt all over again."

What do we learn from this? Well... the FCC produces rules about test alerts and they are actually meaningful. When you opt for the approach of "let's make people think it's real" (for whatever reason you might have), you also opting to create confusion, anger, and mistrust. In the case of the Utah test message, I wonder how many people used this opportunity to turn WEA off. Maybe they saw it, complained about it, and moved on. But maybe this was the event where they lost a little more trust in the organization and became a little less engaged in the mission of public safety.

I've been working on a manuscript on over-alerting, warning fatigue, and opting out. We're creating a typology of the factors and dimensions for each of these often discussed but never measured constructs. Because of this, I'm particularly sensitive to events that fully align with antecedents of warning fatigue (i.e., false alerts), symptoms of warning fatigue (i.e., evaluation fatigue) and consequences of warning fatigue (i.e., complaining). The paper is coming soon.

For more recommended contents, be sure to download The Warning Lexicon - it's free and offers step-by-step instructions on how to write a better warning message.

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