A new update to popular social media platform Instagram will allow users to create or donate to other fundraisers via its reels.
This new option has been rolled out to over 30 countries (including Australia) and gives users the ability to add a link to their reels which will let viewers donate to over 1.5 million different charities. Instagram had already provided users with a similar addition to their stories, posts and live streams during the last few years.
The new Instagram addition was announced as part of Meta’s initiatives for Earth Day (Friday 22nd April), with the company pointing out that the donations that were made through its platforms (both Instagram and Facebook) exceeded the amount of $200 million.
Among the non-profit organisations to receive the most sizeable donations through the platforms were those that had to with climate change, such as The Ocean Cleanup, World Wildlife Fund and Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Most amounts that were donated didn’t exceed the US$20 mark, which is proof of the overwhelming number of people who made contributions during the past 12 months, showing once again how motivated the younger generation is regarding important matters that affect the entire world.
Instagram’s parent company also announced that it’ll be making additions to its Climate Science Centre, such as highlighting things that people can do in their daily lives to help the planet or showing data on emissions based on each country.
Furthermore, Meta has released stickers that people can pin on their profile pictures on Facebook and Instagram through which they show their support to the environment. Finally, the company has announced that it will be giving a grant of around $1.3 million to nine companies in an attempt to combat the spread of false information about climate change.
