COVID-19 efforts of top social media platforms in PH.
According to Google Statistics, the total confirmed cases of Coronavirus worldwide has reached more than 2 Million as of April 16, 2020.
Meanwhile, PH tops ASEAN countries with more than five thousand reported confirmed cases.
Given the data shared above and the recent extension of the enhanced community quarantine(ECQ) which in effect is a total lockdown, restricting the movement of people with exceptions, in response to the growing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines to last until April 30, 2020. I can only imagine a shift in the behavior of Filipinos online. — A much more wired and connected online community, given that people must stay at home. Also considering that there are a lot of free online events and resources everywhere.
Assuming that more people are spending a longer time on social media and using digital platforms as a gateway in knowing about the COVID-19 situation, let’s take a look at the efforts being done by Facebook, Twitter, and other digital platforms to address the pandemic or at least inform the public.
01. FACEBOOK
From the Facebook menu, users will be able to select the COVID-19 Information Center. Upon landing on the page, users can easily access the Department of Health’s website, browse through the page where the user can follow recognized health organizations, see tips on how to deal with staying home, help stop in spreading the virus through common prevention tips and see the latest posts from different organizations.
What’s good about this effort? Coming from this page, people will have the confidence to cope up with the outbreak. This page is filtered even including Livestream of events. People will be able to see fact-checked content and they won’t have to screen fake news.
02. TWITTER
Twitter gives a very straightforward approach. They added a tab on top of the home screen where users can see live updates of COVID-19.
In effect, when a user clicks on it, the user will be redirected to live updates with the list of the latest local news from recognized organizations such a Rappler, ABS-CBN News, Philippine Red Cross, and World Health Organization among others. They also gathered tweets & retweets from verified sources like Karen Davila and Atom Araullo who are well-known journalists in PH.
03. VIBER
True to its core as a communication tool, it is pretty interesting to see how Viber rehashed its existing features for COVID-19. One of the things that I observed is the #StayAtHome banner on the top left corner of the page which made a very strong position in terms of communicating the message.
When the user clicks on the explore menu, he will see the featured section wherein they have a huge call-to-action for people to join the official Viber community of the Department of Health in the Philippines. Once the user joins in the community, he will be able to see not just text updates but even documents and art cards from admin. The Viber community has more than 1.3 Million users as of date.
They also tried to push other Viber Features by simply adding a new section with #StayAtHome Tools.
04. GOOGLE SEARCH
When users click on the Chrome app, they will see a Coronavirus (COVID-19) card which will lead to search results with a tab that shows an overview of the Coronavirus disease, symptoms, prevention, treatments, news, and statistics.
This is pretty useful for people who want to really dig into more information about the virus. It serves its purpose as a search tool. I guess people are kinda expecting this level of effort from Google.
05. FITBIT
This effort indulged me because I didn’t expect something from a companion app. From the home screen, the user will be able to see a new menu with COVID-19. Once the user clicks on it, he will be redirected to a screen with two major resources titled Fitbit: Stay healthy Indoors and a link-out to World Health Organization: Help stop the spread. The intent is to share ideas to stay healthy at home and keep the users informed with the latest COVID-19 updates from WHO.
When the users click on the Fitbit option, users will see section headers in call-to-action tips like Wash your hands often, Stay Active Indoors, Get enough sleep, Take time to relax, Connect with Others, Eat Well, Stay Hydrated, and Monitor your health.
Along each section covers free resources in mixed media format. There are videos for at-home workouts, audio clips for meditation & mindfulness and other guided programs that are linked to the Fitbit-Ionic wearable features like changing the clock face or setting reminders to move.
I really appreciate what I have observed from the mentioned digital platforms. I’m sure that there are continuous efforts to ensure that they will help users by not just serving its purpose but taking an extra step to give information and resources in times of this Coronavirus pandemic.
Salute to all the people behind these efforts! You are also modern-day heroes for people who must stay home and use digital tools to connect, learn, inspire, and be informed.
