Facebook Launches New "Care" Reaction in Response to COVID-19
Allowing people to share their support and solidarity during this time.
In response to the global coronavirus pandemic, Facebook has launched a new reaction on its app and website to make it easier for people to show their support and solidarity.
On the regular Facebook website and app, the “care” reaction will take the form of a little character hugging a small heart. It joins the other reactions, such as “thumbs up,” “sadness” and “anger,” that have been available since 2015. Messenger users, on the other hand, can activate a new pulsing pink-purple heart by pressing onto the existing heart icon.
With lock-down measures in place, Facebook has become an important platform for many people to check in on family, friends and neighbors. “We know this is an uncertain time, and we wanted people to be able to show their support in ways that let their friends and family know they are thinking of them,” tweeted Alexandru Voica, Facebook’s EMEA Communications Manager for Engineering. In the next few weeks, Facebook will also start showing warning messages in News Feeds to users who have liked, reacted or commented to “harmful” coronavirus misinformation, the company announced on Thursday.
Starting next week, the “care” emojis will start appearing on Facebook’s platforms and messenger app.
In other news, Facebook has cancelled all large events through June 2021.
On Facebook, we will launch a seventh Reaction alongside the existing six. The new Care Reaction will start rolling out next week globally and you can use it to react to posts, comments, images, videos, or other content on the app and https://t.co/t0PZL74vjg pic.twitter.com/PkpbCoPc4F
— Alexandru Voica (@alexvoica) April 17, 2020
