Facebook has recently announced that it has started to roll out its Community Help feature in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia in the next few days.
The social media giant also stated that it is planning to launch the tool in more countries across the globe in the next few weeks as well.
Building on an earlier version
The Community Help tool is not actually an entirely new feature from Facebook. As a matter of fact, the world’s biggest social media platform first debuted the tool back in February of 2017, as an update within Safety Check.
The company originally intended the Community Help feature to serve as a means for Facebook users to offer or ask and get assistance from other people, especially in times of crisis.
More than three years after it was introduced, Community Help has since been used by folks online when dealing with emergencies, weather calamities, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks.
Expanding the feature amid a worldwide pandemic
Now that Facebook has decided to expand the Community Help tool to other countries around the world, the feature’s original purpose remains largely the same – users can still take advantage of it when requesting or offering assistance to help cope with the threat of the coronavirus.
On top of that, the feature also allows Facebook users to donate funds to nonprofit fundraisers, especially those directly involved in the fight against the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
This latest update from Facebook marks the first time that the Community Help feature has been launched via a worldwide rollout. The launch also signifies the first time the tool has been used for a health crisis.
Further boost to Facebook’s other ongoing efforts
The Community Help rollout is the latest addition to Facebook’s expanding efforts to help battle the coronavirus threat.
Not too long ago, Facebook had recently decided to launch a new Coronavirus Community Hub on its Messenger platform.
The purpose of that deployment is two-fold:
- To help Messenger users continue to connect with family, friends, and colleagues while observing social distancing protocols.
- To offer tips and resources to people so that they can keep themselves and their loved ones protected against COVID-19.
Also just recently, Facebook, among other tech giants, also held a hackathon with the aim of using technology to help fight against coronavirus.
Images courtesy of Facebook and Pixabay.