The coronavirus is affecting each country in the world at all levels. Wildfire’s impact to help people access critical information in the interest of their well-being is doing a lot of good work.
It is being observed that many students and university employees have been posting about the Coronavirus in their area.
As of now, information about new local cases of the coronavirus, closures and other cancellations are being spread across many sources.
This is the reason why Wildfire was created, to be the simplest and fastest way in being informed about the local area.
The developers of the Wildfire app are devoting extra focus in helping users and people stay informed about the coronavirus.
The wildfire app has added a new tab titled ‘coronavirus’ to it and it contains news about it in the area which is reliable and verified. It has also been observed that in challenging times, various communities can be a great source of support for the Wildfire app.
The coronavirus tab contains only news and alerts about the coronavirus that is verified in the users’ respective local areas.
This news come from verified news sources and institutes like the World Health Organization (W.H.O) and the Center for Disease Control (C.D.C).
What is Wildfire App?
Wildfire is a mobile app keeping users informed about important events that are happening nearby.
It also makes it easy to spread the word in a fast manner when something significant happens.
As of now, the app is present in more than 200 colleges and universities with more than 350,000 students. Its user base is growing quickly.
How does Wildfire work?
Wildfire is a mobile app where important and trending posts get sent out as alerts to people and users nearby. Some real-life examples are as under:
- In terms of safety, Wildfire alerted 4,000 students of University of California-Berkeley within a 1-mile radius of a shooting, after a minute it took place.
- When it comes to celebrity sightings, around 11,000 students quickly found out that Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors was on campus in UCLA.
- In 2018, Classes at UC Davis were cancelled when students used the Wildfire app to spread a petition about the quality of air during the 2018 California wildfires.
When did Wildfire’s development start?
The idea for the app originated when one of its founders was nearly mugged outside a library on the campus of University of California – Berkeley in 2015.
He eventually made a post on Facebook about it to warn students and it did get hundreds of views but realized there were thousands of students at UC Berkeley who were neither friends with him on social media nor were scrolling through their Facebook feed at that time.
Upon realizing the lack of a clear and effective way in spreading or hearing up-to-date and real-time information within the local community, the founders then decided to act on making an app that could capitalize on that by eliminating the limits of existing social networks.
The creators of Wildfire made as much as creative and effective way for people to communicate with other people right around them in real-time.
Who built Wildfire and why they named it that way?
Wildfire was created by a team graduates of University of California – Berkeley, who are based in California.
It is named that way because it is aimed to spread news and notifications real fast.
How can a normal person sign up for Wildfire?
Wildfire is available on both Android and iOS in both the Play Store and the App Store respectively.
All they need to do is search for ‘Wildfire’ on the App Store or Google Play to download the app.
Who can post on Wildfire?
Wildfire shows users posts and sends them alerts based on their current location. Anyone within their community using the Wildfire app can post.
The app also has local tech news, law officials, education administrators and other kinds of people (students and adults alike) using Wildfire to share information with their community.
How can official accounts be verified?
Any journalist, official, someone working with the law or any other person interested in using wildfire can email the company at team@getwildfire.com with the name of their publication and city.
The company will then look into verifying Wildfire profiles needing verification.
How do Wildfire’s alerts work?
Wildfire alerts are posts which are ranked first and second for the day. They trend on views, upvotes, distance away from a happening and by importance too.
