Automatic Tweet about Hazardous Material scares The Atlantic

Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic posted this morning about “The Tweet That Begins the Zombie Apocalypse”

The tweet was from @IlliniAlert sent around midnight this morning: “Hazardous materials released at Institute for Genomic Biology. Escape area if safe to do so. Otherwise seek shelter.“

@IlliniAlert is a twitter account self-described as “an automated Twitter feed provided by the Illini-Alert System.This feed is not actively monitored by a human being”

As Madrigal reports, “zombies aren’t closing in on Chicago or anywhere else”. Subsequent tweets (an hour later) from the automatic alert confirm that that spill has been contained. But wow, I’m glad I didn’t see that when it happened; would have been an uncomfortable hour.

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