Facebook Changes the Game... Again

"When there is a crisis, people use Facebook to let their friends and family know they're safe, learn and share more about what's happening, and help communities recover." - Mike Nowak, FB Product Director

Facebook announced the launch of the Community Help platform back in February 2017. Community Help was an expansion of Facebook's Safety Check, a feature widely adopted by users after the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Reuters covered the Community Help release stating, "[Facebook's] designers envisioned a virtual classified advertising section where people near each other can offer shelter after a forest fire, seek food in the wake of an earthquake and meet other immediate needs in an organized way."

In the fall of 2017, Facebook added the Crisis Response center to its Community Help platform. The system featured a number of tools Facebook developed after monitoring patterns in user activity in the wake of disasters and terror-related incidents around the world. Mike Nowak, a Product Director at Facebook, lists the tools currently offered on Crisis Response:

Safety Check: an easy way to let your friends and family know you’re safe. It will continue to work the same way it does today and will be featured at the top of each crisis page if you are in the affected area.
Links to Articles, Photos and Videos: crisis-related content from public posts can help people learn more about a crisis.
Community Help: people can ask for and give help to communities affected by the crisis.
Fundraisers: let people create fundraisers and donate to support those affected by the crisis and nonprofit organizations helping with relief efforts.

So What's the Big Deal? Just last week, the social media mogul announced its latest addition to the Crisis Response center. Facebook is now granting access to businesses and organizations to post directly on the Community Help page during times of need. Companies like, Chase, Lyft, Direct Relief, Feeding America and International Medical Corps, can now actively offer support to those seeking help.

Think About It: As Facebook continues to grant companies access to the Community Help page, an opportunity lends itself to those looking to get involved. Facebook reports, "Over the past year [February 2017-2018], people turned to Community Help for more than 500 different crises. Some of the crises where people used Community Help the most in 2017 include the flooding in Brazil (May), Hurricane Harvey in the US (August), the attack in Barcelona (August), the flooding in Mumbai (August) and the earthquake in Central Mexico (September). People have engaged with Community Help more than 750,000 times via posts, comments and messages..."

[Triple] Bottom Line: It's no secret, many businesses struggle implementing and/or maintaining their social media engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility. Facebook's Crisis Response center provides a meaningful and reputable solution for businesses to stay engaged and help communities recover and rebuild; two birds, meet one stone.