Stay Home, But Stay in Touch: 5 Tips for Staying Better Connected with Loved Ones on Messenger

The current COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruptions in everyday life for people around the world. As citizens everywhere wisely heed the advice of officials to stay at home, they’ve simultaneously turned to technology and messaging platforms like Messenger to stay in touch with close friends and family. In fact, we’ve seen significant increases in Messenger usage for things like group video calls, with 70% more people globally using this function in Messenger. And calling in general on Messenger has doubled in places most impacted by the virus around the globe. In the United States, just in the past week alone, we’ve seen 70% more group video calls compared to last week.

As more and more people continue to rely on our platform to keep in touch with each other during this time we wanted to provide some helpful tips to make everyone’s conversations using Messenger the best they can be:

1. Make 1:1 and Group Voice and Video Calls: Voice call or video chat with your friends and family on Messenger. Within a conversation, tap on the phone or video icons in the upper right hand corner of the screen. You can add up to 8 people in group voice and video calls. 

2. Add AR filters to your photos and videos: Enhance your photos and videos with AR filters. Simply open the app, click on your Story (the + sign at the top left beside your friends’ stories) and find the one you like. You can also find the AR filters while on a video call with your friends. Tap the smiley-face icon and select an AR filter.

3. Access and send stickers through Messenger: Express yourself through stickers. Within a conversation, tap on the smiley face in the composer, which will bring up your sticker options. Tap “+” to access the sticker store, where you can download sticker packs for free and select from options based on your mood. Or, you can search for any sticker based on a keyword by typing the word into the search bar. To send a sticker, simply tap on the one you like and it will automatically be sent.

4. Send 15 Second Video Messages: Sometimes sending a video message can be better than a text message or a photo. You can take the short video by pushing down the shutter circle for 15 seconds or less on the Messenger camera.

5. Send video in HD quality and photos in 4K: Many smartphones capture videos with HD resolution, and now people on Messenger can send and receive HD quality, 720p videos straight from their camera roll. People can also send and receive photos in Messenger at 4K resolution, the highest quality many smartphones support. 

Staying in touch with friends and loved ones has never been more important than it is now, and we hope Messenger will make it easier to keep the people most important to you close during this time. So, wash your hands, keep calm, and reach out to your loved ones. They want to hear from you.