Friday Social: Coronavirus Emoji, Instagram Filter Ban and Facebook Filters

  • Social Media

Among the Coronavirus news which has no doubt affected us all, we’re still forging ahead with the #FridaySocial – a weekly round-up of the key social media news stories from the previous seven days. Let us know your thoughts in the comments or via Twitter – @Umpf

Coronavirus Emojis

Social media has been flooded with news, advice, opinions, memes and more, but one particular approach caught our eye on Twitter.

To encourage people to wash their hands properly, when users type certain hashtags, Twitter automatically generates a handwash emoji:

Keep washing your hands, people!

Instagram Bans COVID-19 Filters

Instagram has been taking steps to try and control content related to COVID-19 by banning searches for AR effects related to the virus.

The app has also attempted to remove ‘harmful misinformation’ and where possible redirects users to reliable resources such as the World Health Organization and the CDC.

 

Twitter Tackles Misinformation

In a bid to tackle some of the more dangerous misinformation spreading across social media, Twitter announced it will expand its safety rules, meaning users would be required to remove any content containing anything that denies expert guidance, encourages people to use fake or ineffective treatments, preventions, and diagnostic techniques, or pretends to be from experts or authorities.

Facebook Spam Filter Issues

Facebook was having issues earlier this week when its news feed spam filter seemingly removed legitimate posts, including posts about Coronavirus.

The company said the issue wasn’t specifically related to COVID-19, and attributed the removals to an automated system. All of the affected posts have since been restored.

 

This week in TikTok

Yesterday it was announced that TikTok will donate $3m to After-School All-Stars – a charity founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger – to help provide food for families affected by school closures due to Coronavirus in the USA.

A statement said families in 60 cities would receive food vouchers and gift cards which can be spent on food and other essentials at local grocery stores.

Bravo, TikTok.

 

And here are a couple of light-hearted TikToks we’ve been enjoying this week:

1) The Cardi B snippet that’s going viral:

 

2) The cutest Corgi catching some kip: