Celebrating our Earth with Messenger and Messenger Kids
This year for Earth Day we want people to connect and virtually experience our planet no matter their coordinates! And at a time when we can’t physically be together, we decided to get creative in how we celebrate Mother Earth. Starting today, Messenger and Messenger Kids are rolling out brand new expression tools, features, and even more ways to celebrate and share together.
Take a Virtual Road Trip
Bummed you’re missing out on that road trip to the Rockies this year? Not to worry. You can now take a virtual road trip thanks to Messenger! In honor of National Parks Week, Messenger and Portal collaborated with National Geographic on a collection of new 360 custom backgrounds. Experience the beauty and wonder of Acadia, Canyonlands, Death Valley and Rocky Mountain National Park all while you’re in a Room or on video calls in Messenger or on Portal.
Celebrate Our Earth
To kick off “Earth Week”, we’re excited to unveil a new Earth Day art suite on April 19th, including a chat theme and custom stickers (available on both Messenger and Instagram) as well as a new 360 background available exclusively on Messenger. Designed and illustrated in partnership with Lucas Wakamatsu, the Earth Day art suite features vibrant colors and bold landscapes that invite conversation around our planet.
On Messenger Kids, younger nature aficionados can also join in on the fun by exploring a magical forest and collecting flowers in the app, decorating their photos with an Earth Day frame and stickers, and even taking photos with an affectionate Earth Day friend through a brand new AR effect.
Accessing Earth Day Artwork and Features
360 Backgrounds – To use the National Geographic and Earth Day 360 backgrounds, simply open the Messenger app and start a video call or create a Room and tap each of the backgrounds at the bottom of your screen. You can also access the National Geographic 360 backgrounds on Portal in the effects tray during calls by tapping the bottom of the screen to select the background.
Chat Themes – To access the Earth Day chat theme, open a Messenger thread and tap on the top bar to open the settings, then select “theme,” where you’ll find the new Earth Day chat theme. On Instagram, open a chat thread and tap on the information button at the top right corner of your screen. Under the chat settings, click the “Theme” button and you’ll be able to select the new Earth Day chat theme.
Messenger Kids Artwork and Game– To access the Earth Day camera stickers, frames and AR effects, select the camera button and tap to access the effects tray. You can access the “Flower Forest” game in the Explore tab.
Stickers – To access the ‘Celebrate Earth’ sticker pack on Messenger, you can download here or by clicking the smiley face in the text box of any Messenger conversation. On Instagram Stories, you can access the sticker pack by pressing the sticker tool, selecting “GIF” and then searching for any of the following keywords: #EarthDay, #MotherEarth, #GoGreen
From all of us at Messenger, Happy Earth Day–and please be kind to Mother Earth!