technical bro

The Coronavirus has torn through the entire globe and companies have come together to help people cope with the crisis. Some have gone out of their way to give the public more information while others like Sony have made games free to play in the comfort of your own home. Now, Facebook looks like it’s trying to help as well. The company has just added a new reaction alongside the Like button and its a ‘Hug’ option.

The reaction is an animated emoji hugging a heart, representing a ‘show of support’ for your friends and family during these dangerous and trying times. You can always use the ‘Love’ reaction but according to Facebook, this shows that you support one another during this time.

The reaction is not present on the Messenger app though and has been replaced by a purple heart instead. To access it, you have to open your reactions, then long-press on a message and the heart reaction and then tap OK to enable the purple heart reaction.

This may not seem like a big step, but with more people interacting with each other because of the pandemic, it shows that even a small gesture might make a huge difference. Facebook could also be teaming up with Reliance to launch a WeChat-like app for India. You can read more about it here......................................................................................................................................................................................................................The company has had its share of problems as well, with the Indian government demanding the social media giant to remove users spreading false information about the Coronavirus. You can read more about that here. The company has also launched a Messenger chatbot to share relevant info about the Coronavirus as well. You can read more about that here.

Alexandru Voica@alexvoica

 · 21h

We’re launching new Care reactions on @facebookapp and @Messenger as a way for people to share their support with one another during this unprecedented time.

We hope these reactions give people additional ways to show their support during the #COVID19 crisis.