Facebook has continued to provide updates in the face of social distancing and coronavirus concerns. As our physical connectivity diminishes, our social connection has the potential to change our outlook during this time.
To help promote this connectivity, Facebook has launched a new sub-platform called “Community Help” where users can offer assistance to others or request help from locals in their area.
Facebook says of the feature:
“Today we’re announcing Community Help, a place for people to request or offer help to neighbors, such as volunteering to deliver groceries or donating to a local food pantry or fundraiser.”
The platform, able to be accessed here, allows users to search posts that request/offer help within a 50 mi radius, although you can set your preference down to 5 mi to encompass your local community only.
In addition to Community Help, Facebook has also recognized the need for increased video features as more users turn to the internet to pass the time at home. The features are associated with Facebook Watch and were previously limited only to partners, but are now being offered to all Page Admins.
The first update is an update to the “Playlist” Feature on Facebook which means that now playlist names will appear on related video updates. For example, “NBC recently added a video to “Stay at Home” playlist”will appear in feeds now. Essentially Facebook is attempting to encourage their users to build groupings of videos for users to view directly from their Home feeds.
Building on their Playlists update, Facebook has taken it a step further with another new feature Series. The Series update is geared towards creators who produce scripted, episodic content.
Facebook explains:
“Series allow you to organize your content into episodes, with the flexibility to show episodes in chronological order (to support a narrative story arc across multiple episodes), as well as add seasons, brand logos (showmarks), and trailers.”
And lastly, Facebook has introduced the new “Videos” tab for Pages which puts an even greater emphasis on creating Series and Playlists. The new tab also makes it easier for fans to follow Pages and subscribe to users they want to see content from in the future.
Which of these updates do you think will be the most helpful? Let us know in the comments!