Skip to main content

Facebook creates a centralized place for crisis tools in the Crisis Response Hub

You can now donate fee-free through the Facebook Crisis donate button

A person using Facebook on a smartphone.
Alexander Kirch / 123RF
It may have started as little more than a university directory system, but today, Facebook has solidified its position as one of the most influential and far-reaching social networks in the world. But as the old adage goes, with great power comes great responsibility. As such, Facebook recently introduced a new Crisis Response Hub to help its billion-plus users stay safe and informed. This new center is meant to give individuals “information about recent crises and access our crisis response tools — including Safety Check, Community Help and Fundraisers to support crisis recovery” in a single, centralized location, and is making it easier than ever to donate following a crisis.

In November, Facebook launched a Crisis button that allows users to give money with one click to areas affected by disasters. To do so, the social network is working alongside GlobalGiving, which will surface the best ways to lend a hand during a crisis, and distribute donations. That way, you don’t have to do your own research when it comes to figuring out where to send your money. While Facebook has previously made it possible for folks to donate, it used to come with a 6.9 percent plus $.30 fee. That is no longer the case — all fees will be waived in the Crisis donate button.

As Asha Sharma, Facebook’s Social Good Product Manager, noted, “Following a disaster, people in the affected area often have tremendous needs to help them recover and rebuild, while others who aren’t affected want to help communities in any way they can. Our goal at Facebook is to create tools that make it easier for people to help their community and the communities they care about recover from a crisis.”

Over the course of the last few years, Facebook has developed a number of safety tools to keep users connected and informed when it matters most. There is Safety Check, officially launched in 2014, which gives individuals in crisis areas the ability to let their friends and family know they’re safe. Then, there is Community Help, a relatively new feature introduced in February that allows users to find and offer help to disaster victims, including critical supplies like water, food, and even shelter.

Just a few months ago, Facebook expanded Safety Check to provide users a way to fundraise for disaster victims, and now, it is expanding once again.

“People will be able to access Crisis Response on Facebook in the upcoming weeks from the homepage on desktop or from the menu button on their phone,” Facebook explained. In addition to a Safety Check, you’ll find links to articles, photos, videos, and other crisis-related content from public posts that can provide more context and information about an emergency. Community Help and Fundraisers will also be located in the same place, creating a more streamlined experience.

The Hub and similar tools offered by other social media companies will likely play a huge role in disaster relief and response in the future. Twitter has long served as a critical source of breaking news and companies like Airbnb have begun offering increased assistance to refugees and other victims of disasters. Facebook’s Crisis Response hub is set to make its debut in the next few weeks on the desktop homepage, as well as in the menu on its mobile app on both iOS and Android.

Update: Facebook has added a button to make it easier to donate during crises. 

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day
Bluesky social media app logo.

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more