The changing faces of Facebook

Tasneem HossainTasneem Hossain
Published : 3 August 2020, 04:29 PM
Updated : 3 August 2020, 04:29 PM

Everyday Shaila gets up early in the morning to have a peep on the Facebook app on her mobile phone before starting for office. All the beautiful flashy, colourful pictures of her friends and relatives smile back at her, leaving her exhilarated. She then gets ready and on the way to her office she leaves her loving, occasionally sarcastic comments on the pictures. Sometimes she strikes the like or react button, a gif or an emoji according to her taste and the pop up. This has become a routine for her for the last seven years. She enjoys doing it.

Until last February, she used to be an ardent user. But as the pandemic hit she began losing her interest. The moment she opens Facebook the news of coronavirus overcrowds the screen; Inbox is crammed with videos or information and updates of COVID-19. Most of those are almost the same but coming from different categories of friends. The number of happy smiling faces started reducing. At first she used to read all the articles and watch the videos for information but gradually she felt she could take it no longer. Her heart would crush with the disastrous news of deaths. The overloaded negative news started having a heavy impact on her life. She would feel depressed and isolated.

Then the restrictions were imposed to stop the spread of the virus and she was forced to be at home isolated from the world. She started working from home and then Facebook became her saviour.

She would keep searching for the few positive posts. Many users stopped posting colourful pictures out of empathy. Some still went on posting a few. She was shocked to see negative remarks on those pictures by some users. They would condemn the person posting those pictures saying they were being insensitive to others. "People are dying and you are posting your happiness!" The tone was sometimes very demanding. Many a times Shaila saw the page become a verbal warzone especially in group posts and then the moderator would mute those discussions. She realised that all this negativity was actually an outburst of mental stress faced by the users during this pandemic.

Shaila is wise enough to understand that the few people uploading eye-soothing pictures were actually trying to keep people in a positive mood amidst these dark sad times. Some of them stopped uploading their posts. Occasionally the pages would look like a barren desert.  A few kept on posting pictures with messages of hope, flowers and scenic beauty to keep the light of hope alive.

Slowly news of coronavirus-related posts became fewer. The trend in nominating friends to upload pictures of certain categories or quizzes for fun started flooding. She, herself, started chatting on messenger in private, like many of her friends and relatives. Each problem, each crisis, with time loses its urgency. Though the number of posts and comments dropped; video calls saw a dramatic rise.

Human beings love themselves. How long could they not upload their pictures? As people could not go outside, they started posting worn-out pictures of their youth and childhood. Naturally, the colour and the pictures became dull. Days passed, the quality of the pictures deteriorated because in the past there weren't many methods for preserving pictures. Some resorted to post pictures of food, home gardening and flowers.

Lo and behold!!! Once again flashy pictures started appearing. With the lockdown relaxed and a limited number of social gatherings allowed, the number of pictures started increasing with renewed vigour and pomp; maybe to compensate the lost two or three months.

As the COVID-19 outbreak turned into a global pandemic, social media became a vital source of information. WHO and other public health organisations started using social media to keep the public informed about the outbreak and safety measures to be taken.

At the same time, these platforms became a place for rumours and unauthentic information too. Unfortunately Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Reddit) and their Chinese equivalents (WeChat, Weibo, Tencent and Toutiao) also overflowed with misinformation creating public confusion about which information sources to trust. Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook started creating new tools to tackle fake news.

On a more positive note, fundraising opportunities created on the Facebook app made it easier for people to donate to hospitals, as well as individuals at risk. A report by the Guardian for the UK states that Facebook witnessed 300 new local coronavirus support groups. The combined membership totalled more than a million people. At the beginning of the outbreak, helpful information on the virus was openly published by scientists and researchers; allowing innumerable researchers to brainstorm possible solutions in developing vaccines or a cure.

Moreover, social distancing measures led people to connect more with one another on these social media platforms like Facebook. Its CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a conference call with reporters on Mar 18 said that daily audio and video calls on WhatsApp and Messenger doubled as the virus spread, reaching levels normally seen only on New Year's Eve. Interest in Instagram and Facebook live is growing.

As people resorted to connecting live, Facebook introduced Messenger Rooms with no time limit where 50 people could connect together even if they did not have a Facebook account. This made professional discussions, office meetings, and social events easier.

Instagram may be taking a bigger share of time as a source of entertainment, especially for the younger generation of users. Going live on Facebook and Instagram is instrumental in the decrease of traditional chats and messages.

Stan Chudnovsky, head of Messenger, said, "Between Messenger and WhatsApp, more than 700 million accounts participate in voice and video calls every day, and the number of calls has more than doubled in many countries since the pandemic began. In some cases, the number of group video calls has gone up by more than 10 times."

Facebook is one of the easiest and widely used platforms for online streaming of videos. Traditional social events like poetry recitations, musical performances, weddings and discussions on various topics are now being live-streamed in record numbers. Celebrities are joining forces on Instagram and Facebook live to instil hope, to entertain, for donations and also to encourage people to listen to the government and WHO advices.

Another initiative by Facebook – the social media giant is to support small businesses by helping them connect to their customers online and added 'Businesses Nearby' and Marketplace sections in the app menu to allow people to connect to their neighbourhood shops. As enticing advertisements are popping up, a trend in impulse buying is also noticed among users.

With most countries imposing mandatory lockdowns, daily activities across all social media platforms is at an all-time high. Facebook, one of the world's biggest technology companies, has continuously been introducing new features across several of the services it owns; it may be assumed that they will go on innovating more versatile features in future too. User behaviour on social media is also expected to change in the near future.

Human species are amazing. They may slow down for a while during periods of crisis. But then they evolve invigorated and stronger.

It's 10:00pm. Time for the Facebook video call; Shaila is thrilled. She has been waiting all day to share the exciting stories of today with her group of university friends on the Messenger Room. It just feels like a party with loads of fun and laughter. Who knows how long the call will be? Ah! She can't wait to get connected and feel energised. She needs to get ready.

Life goes on….