London Vigil for Paris Attacks (Photo : REUTERS/Peter Nicholls )
As the events of the Paris terror attacks unfolded on the evening of November 13, Friday, social media sites provided netizens with headline news and other critical information as people searched for friends and family living in France's capital. Facebook activated its Safety Check tool for the first time during a human-made disaster, which allows users to mark themselves or other people as safe during a crisis; and created a new profile picture feature. Meanwhile, Twitter's Moments tool spotlighted top news tweets about the terrorist attacks, in addition to prayers and well-wishes from Hollywood celebrities and United States presidential candidates.
Facebook created a profile picture frame that will be available worldwide on its Facebook.com page. It lets the social network's users alter their profile pictures to symbolize their support for France and Parisians.
Facebook spokeswoman Anna Richardson White shared that the social media giant used the Safety Check tool five times last year. However, it was always for natural disasters. The function of the tool is to get news updates and check up on loved ones.
Meanwhile, Twitter's Moments tool shows tweets from famous people. They include global celebrities such as Emma Watson and Salma Hayek, and U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald Trump.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey added a succinct two words to his social network account. It read "So terrible."
The most popular hashtag related to the Paris terrorist attacks was #prayforparis. It had 6.7 million tweets in 10 hours.
On Friday night Twitter provided important information to help the people of Paris get to safe places. The hashtag #PorteOuverte (open door) gave shelter to Parisians who needed it. Twitter reported the hashtag produced one million tweets in just 10 hours.
Other trending Twitter hashtags racked up several posts. They included #RechercheParis (high-end Paris) to share info about people found alive, and #UneBougiePourParis (candle for Paris) to show unity through small flickering lights, according to The New York Times.
However, some online criticism has questioned why social media leaders did not roll out their new features following the Beirut twin suicide bombings on Thursday, which killed at least 43 people, according to CBS News. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the Beirut and Paris attacks.
Here is a recap of the worldwide response to the Paris attacks:
