Connecting Communities With Accurate Health Information About Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Handling a wide range of conversations involving coronavirus (COVID-19) and overall health concerns in your communities can be difficult, especially when trying to parse fact from fiction. If you’re looking for reliable content to share with your members on the prevention of coronavirus, or dealing with anxiety surrounding the virus, we’ve compiled some helpful information from leading health authorities.

Disease prevention

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• If you cough or sneeze, do it into your sleeve, or use a tissue. Dispose of the tissue immediately into a closed rubbish bin, and then clean your hands.
• Clean surfaces regularly with disinfectant. For example: always clean kitchen benches and work desks.

If you feel unwell

• Avoid traveling if you have a fever and/or cough. Once you get home, make contact with a health professional and tell them about where you have been.
• If you feel unwell, stay at home and call your healthcare provider.

On masks

(WHO)

Wear a mask if:

• You are a health worker treating COVID-19 patients.
• If you are healthy, but taking care of a person with suspected coronavirus infection.
• If you are coughing or sneezing.

Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water. If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly, as shared here on the WHO website.

Managing rising anxiety or stigma

(WHO)

We know that your communities may be feeling anxious, stressed or frightened. Here are some important things to take into account and share with your community members:

• It’s normal to feel sad, stressed, confused, scared or angry during a crisis. Talking to people you trust can help, like friends, family or your fellow community members.
• If you must stay at home, maintain a healthy lifestyle, including proper diet, sleep, exercise. Keep up with loved ones at home by email and phone and connect with your larger Facebook community for support.
• Don’t use smoking, alcohol or other drugs to deal with your emotions.
• If you feel overwhelmed, talk to a health worker or counselor. Have a plan on where to go to and how to seek help for physical and mental health needs if required.
• Get the facts. Gather information that will help you accurately determine your risk so that you can take reasonable precautions. Find a credible source you can trust such as the WHO website or a local or state public health agency.

When posting in your communities, be sure to share the latest facts from credible sources, avoid hyperbole and show solidarity with affected people by opening your community up to the stories of people who have been affected by the virus. Of course, keep in mind to not share information about someone else’s health concerns (such as someone affected by COVID-19 without their permission).

Using Facebook tools to better manage your communities during this health concern

We’ve got a few tools you can use to manage your community efficiently if you are experiencing an increase in volume in posts, comments and questions during this time.

Manage the conversation and stay on top of misinformation

• Post approval

Turning post approval on temporarily in your group can help you manage an influx of incoming questions, helping you better manage a series of repetitive questions coming through. Learn more here about how fellow admins use post approval.

If you don’t want to turn on post approval for your entire group, you do have the option to turn on post approval for individual members you’d like to keep an eye on.

• Posting controls in your Page

In terms of managing conversations on your Facebook Page, you can control if visitors can post on your Page by allowing or disabling posts by other people. Take a look at how to edit your Page posting settings here. You can also turn messaging on or off for your Page, depending on your community’s needs and your team’s resources.

• Keyword alerts

Save time you’d otherwise spend scanning countless conversations for mention of the virus or other health concerns with Keyword Alerts. You can create a custom list of words and phrases, then receive notifications when those terms appear in your group so you can quickly and easily respond. To keep an eye on conversations related to the virus, we suggest setting keyword alerts for "COVID-19" and "coronavirus."

• Block words and add a profanity filter

Pages have a few tools that will help you more easily moderate conversations. Block specific words you don’t want to see on your Page and add a profanity filter to block words marked offensive by the community and prevent conflict.Take a look here for details on how to set up these moderation tools in your Facebook Page.

• Enforcement tools: mute, block or close comments

When a thread is active, sometimes conversations can get out of hand. In your group, enforce your house rules, if needed, you can mute or block members in addition to closing comments on a thread. Learn more about enforcing group rules here.

• Ban or remove people from your Page

On your Facebook Page, you can ban people from your Page or remove someone who likes your Page. You can also set country and age restrictions to control who can see and like your Page. Read more about controlling who can see your Page here.

Share credible, reliable information

• Group announcements

Restricting all group conversations to one thread on Coronavirus can help your admin team respond to questions and ensure they don’t miss anything. Make that thread a group announcement so your members can easily find it, reference it and engage there. Learn how to pin a post to announcements here.

• Social Learning units

If you have a series of information or resources to share, create a unit in your group to direct people to. We recommend sharing links to the World Health Organization.

Stay connected and support your community

• Facebook Live and Watch Party

Facebook Live enables you to be part of what’s happening around the world in real-time, no matter where you are. If your community can’t meet in person, you can use Facebook Live to host online events and stay connected. Go live from the Facebook app on your phone to broadcast a conversation with a speaker, a performance or a Q&A. You can also use a desktop camera or streaming software for higher quality audio and video.

Watch Party is another way to connect with friends and fans. Host or join a watch party to watch videos and chat together in real time.

Learn more about live streaming an event.

• Member Requests

You may experience an influx of requests coming from potential members seeking support or information in your group. With a large enough increase, you can decide to put a hold on accepting requests or use our tools to help make the process easier for your admin team. See tips here on how to screen requests, or use our tool that will automatically approve new member requests based on certain membership requirements that you set.

• Topics

Celebrate individuals writing supportive or informative posts. Create a topic in your group so people can easily find these threads and engage in the comments section.

We hope these tools across your communities help you manage the conversation more easily, highlight helpful, credible information and support your members. For more information on our efforts across both Facebook and Instagram, check out our Newsroom blog.