14 DAY TRIAL // There are 1.3 billion users that log in monthly on Facebook, and the company hopes that at least some of them will open up their wallets and shell out some money to help fight Ebola. Mark Zuckerberg has already tried to set an example by donating $25 million to the Centers for Disease Control Foundation last month.
The social network will soon sport a donate button across the top of its users’ News Feeds as the company works to help put out the Ebola outbreak in Africa. Facebook will prompt users to make donations, hoping that, after sharing the information with others on the social network, people will want to replicate the move and donate too.
The donation button is supposed to go live on Thursday and it will likely be available on the site for the next week. Users will be able to direct their money towards three different charities: Save the Children, American Red Cross, and the International Medical Corps.
Facebook won’t just sit around and wait for everyone else to donate money. It will be donating 100 wireless hotspots to areas in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where first responders are stationed. These will not only provide Internet access, but also voice services, which should help improve the communications in the area.
Furthermore, users in Sierra Leone, for instance, will be able to see educational materials about Ebola in the ad areas, including messages from UNICEF.
Africa, in general, is a smaller market for Facebook, with some 100 million people logging in on the network each month. That’s about half the number of Internet users in the world. Even so, the company hopes to help people stay safe.
The world's problems are Facebook's problems
Considering just how many users Facebook has, the world’s biggest problems are also Facebook’s problems, which explains why the company would get involved in this particular issue, especially given the risk for a global epidemic.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has pulled out the Donate button. A few years back, following the Typhoon Haiyan hitting the Philippines, Facebook tried to help the Red Cross get some money.
Also, the company seems to be more and more concerned about people’s safety during disaster times. Last month saw the launch of Safety Check, a tool it shows in areas struck by a catastrophe, and which helps people inform their loved ones that they’re safe, while also checking if everyone is OK.
