In these unprecedented times, while the most of us are currently quarantined at home, staying connected is more important than ever. As a result social media usage has grown. In particular, Facebook is experiencing a record usage with its traffic increased by 37%.
A few days ago the company announced that new ‘care’ emoji reactions will be added on the social network and in Messenger.
The new ‘care’ emoji looks like a smiley hugging a red heart and can be easily added to posts, comments, images, videos or other content via the Like button. From this week it will appear alongside the six existing reactions – the thumbs up, the heart, and the laughing, sad, amazed and angry emoji.
Similarly in Messenger the heart reaction can be updated to the new pulsating heart by tapping and holding the basic heart reaction on a message.
A message by the Facebook team states that “they’ve added these reactions so people can show their support while being apart. They hope this helps everyone to feel a bit more connected“ during the COVID19 crisis.
“We know this is an uncertain time, and we wanted people to be able to show extra love and care to their friends and family in ways that let them know they are thinking of them.” – Alexandru Voica, a tech communications manager at the social network, tweeted last Friday.
