UPDATED 23:27 EDT / JANUARY 20 2019

APPS

Facebook adds a petitions feature to the news feed

Come Monday, Facebook Inc. will allow users to get together and send their thoughts to officials in a petitions feature called “Community Actions.”

According to a TechCrunch report Sunday, users will be able to create a petition relating to a cause and then tag various government agencies or local and national elected officials. The feature will roll out in the U.S. starting Monday and then should hit other markets later.

Users can first create a topic in “Community Actions” and then add a description. Others can add their own comments to the topic, add an event around the topic, start a fundraiser or begin a “Call Your Rep” campaign. People can also hit a “Support” button. While the topic is running, Facebook will show the number of people who support the thread, showing names of friends or Pages and public figures.

As an example, TechCrunch showed the screenshot of a Community Action relating to putting more recycling bins in a public park. Another example of a petition asked the governor to put a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in Colorado, while yet  another asked officials in Florida to build a performing arts center.

“Building informed and civically engaged communities is at the core of Facebook’s mission,” Facebook said in a statement to TechCrunch. “Every day, people come together on Facebook to advocate for causes they care about, including by contacting their elected officials, launching a fundraiser, or starting a group.”

No doubt the feature will be abused and some causes might be downright silly or perhaps created with bad intent. Facebook said it will have a number of people moderating the feature while a proactive algorithm also scans petitions.

As has already been pointed out, it’s likely Facebook will find controversy when allowing one cause and not another. Users cannot flag President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence, so people can forget about petitioning against such things as the border wall. Facebook will also add “constituent” badges to the feature so officials know whether the petition has been started by someone directly affected.

Image: Facebook

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