‘Prayer Post’: Facebook Responds to the Needs of its Users

Facebook, one of the largest social media platforms, has been utilised widely during the covid 19 pandemic situation to reach out to people. Being one of the most popular and easily accessible platforms the app has provided the people to meet and be in touch during the locked-down situation in 2020. The ‘Live’ feature and the video calling facility also have been widely used by people not only to inform its members but also to gather together for prayers.

Considering the feelings of their users Facebook has announced that they are launching a new feature named “Prayer post”. The new feature launched by Facebook on Thursday lets members of some Facebook groups request and respond to prayer calls.

Facebook had reported that the most number of video calls were made during the week of Easter and the first month of lockdown on a global span due to the pandemic. Video calls were made on the platform of messenger offered by Facebook. Facebook also hosted Live broadcasts from Spiritual pages which also had a great response during 2020.

According to the Pew Research Centre Study, Facebook and YouTube were the two most used online platforms during the pandemic. During the pandemic, Facebook has turned out to be the safest method to reach out to the public. It has also been used as a platform to meet with family, friends and colleagues during the same time.

Facebook has been testing the new prayer feature from last December onwards especially in the US. It provides its users with an opportunity to request prayer in their Facebook group. If the user needs to use the prayer feature the request has to be approved by the group admin. Once the group admin approves the prayer request, other members can join the prayer gradually.