Instagram Responds to COVID

 COVID-19 was a virus that completely shook up the way people lived their lives. But it did not only affect people, but also businesses heavily as well. Instagram was able to recognize these small businesses struggling, and also the different groups of people getting affected in this pandemic. They were quick to jump on some ideas that can promote not only the small businesses, but also make Instagram look better.

    To start Instagram saw these small businesses going out of business because of the impact of the pandemic, so they took initiative and decided to created Instagram Shops to try and help the businesses thrive. These shops help bring awareness to the products they offer and help the businesses stay afloat. It looks really good on Instagrams part because they are using this large platform to help others and that makes people look at them more positively. A win-win situation. Another thing they did was they made it easier to support small businesses through the purchase of gift cards or by ordering food. They launched a fundraising feature on Instagram Live where all of the money donated went to nonprofits of the users' choice. Instagram also went a long way to remove the spread of inaccurate information on COVID on their platform. They removed COVID-19 accounts from account recommendations and the explore section unless a credible health organization posted them. Also prohibited misleading ads for products that refer to COVID-19. In case a user was unsure about a post regarding COVID-19 Instagram added this feature of a notice at the top of the feed with reliable resources from expert health organizations. 

    The reason I am rambling on about this stuff is Instagram provided a textbook example of how to respond to situations like this. They found a way to improve their image in different little ways while also being able to support the larger cause that was COVID-19. This situation demonstrates beautiful PR and marketing but was also executed very well. Everyone involved was able to help improve the company image while also supporting causes that they believed in like donations to nonprofit organizations and helping out smaller businesses be more successful.