Facebook and TikTok Show Support for Pride Month with New Features and Initiatives
June has rolled round, the sun is in the sky and, more importantly, it’s officially Pride Month – time to celebrate!
Facebook and TikTok, the social media giants, are showing their support for Pride Month by adding a range of new in-app features and tools to the platform, as well as support initiatives for the LGBTQ+ community.
Facebook has introduced celebratory new features, including post backgrounds, custom avatars and stickers for both News Feed posts and Facebook Stories.
The company has also added a new, colourful, animated Pride logo in the app, designed by Jasmina El Bouamraoui – a Berlin based, queer german-moroccan illustrator and graphic artist.
Facebook is also:
- Launching a custom hashtag feed for #Pride, which will showcase content from related groups, publishers and public figures.
- Supporting LGBTQ+ owned businesses with curated #Pride collections on both Facebook and Instagram.
- Giving its new Live Shopping Fridays initiative a Pride focus, with events featuring products from LGBTQ+ founder brands.
- Partnering with a range of NGOs and experts to share mental health resources, and showcase inclusive Facebook communities.
Facebook users have also been celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in ways shown in the below Twitter thread: raising funds, adding the rainbow flag emoji to their bios and joining support groups.
In fact, Facebook revealed that more than 25 million people on Facebook are now a member of at least one of the 34,000 public groups created to support LGBTQ+ people.
Happy #Pride
People have been coming together in all kinds of ways to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
From raising funds… pic.twitter.com/tbQCOXXxpF
— Facebook (@Facebook) June 1, 2021
https://twitter.com/Facebook/status/1399835235169169408
Over on Instagram, you’ll find a range of new stickers for feed posts and Stories.
What’s more, when you use a Pride-related hashtag and publish your post, you’ll see that the text transforms into rainbow-style text. When posting a Story with the same hashtags, a rainbow-coloured ring will appear around the frame.
TikTok
TikTok is encouraging users to use the #ForYourPride hashtag – a play on its trademark #ForYouPage – to raise awareness of the event.
The popular video-streaming service has also added nine new colourful filters for your clips, “including Rainbow Hair, Rainbow Curtain, Rainbow Trail, Pride Lighting, Pride Time Warp, Pride Rainbow Cheeks, Pride 3D Lashes, Pride Glittery, and Pride Flag Sky AR.” Get ready for a whole lot of rainbow on your feed.
TikTok has shown further support for the LGBTQ+ community by:
- Hosting its second annual LGBTQ+ TikTok Trailblazers initiative, which looks to highlight creators making a positive impact on the platform.
- Presenting a range of musical performances and community-building events via TikTok LIVE, including performances from Charlie XCX, BennyDrama and Gia Woods.
- Running the first-ever global TikTok Pride March, “a TikTok LIVE Lineup fundraising event spanning 12 hours across 24 different programs hosted by countries around the globe.”
- Donating $500K to organizations that support the LGTBQ+ community.
Dedicated to the arduous history of minority groups who have struggled for decades to overcome prejudice, Pride Month is an important initiative in helping to raise awareness of the LGTBQ+ community.
These increasingly powerful social media giants have a responsibility to build platforms that encourage community-building, spread awareness and foster a feeling of acceptance for all.
Now, both on and off your social feeds, it’s time to go and celebrate. 🌈
Finally, for our previous #SocialShort, click here.
