Facebook has created a dedicated Facebook Social Good team to focus on building more products that make connections even easier and allow more people to do more good in the world. This is as a result of how when people are connected on the platform, they can “achieve extraordinary things”.
“People raise money for disaster relief, they search for missing children, and they bring attention to the issues that are near and dear to their hearts. Facebook gives people the voice they otherwise wouldn’t have, and in turn, makes the invisible victims visible. We’re inspired by how much good comes from connecting on Facebook,” it said in a statement.
The Facebook Social Good team has released an update on rebuilding efforts in Nepal in the aftermath of the earthquakes there last April. People around the world turned to Facebook to directly support the relief efforts through the Donate feature, while others used the power of Safety Check to alert loved ones of their whereabouts. As seen in the video, there are some truly remarkable stats that demonstrate the amazing efforts by the community to help others:
- After the earthquake hit Nepal in April and in May 2015, 8.5 million + people used Facebook’s Safety Check to notify friends and family that they were safe.
- Over 150 million people around the globe received notifications that people they knew were safe.
- More than 770,000 people used the Donate feature on Facebook to give more than $15 million to support International Medical Corps.
- Donations came in through Facebook from people in more than 175 countries.
- Donations were used to help 210,000 people through the International Medical Corps efforts on the ground in Nepal.
In addition, there is a data visualisation that shows when and from where these donations were made.
Lastly, Facebook has released a video that tells the story of Sabrina, a Nepalese woman living in the US who used Safety Check to find out that her family was safe after the earthquake.
https://www.facebook.com/FacebookStoriesEnglish/videos/1011667055538872/
