Facebook Allows Users To Add Country Flag To Their Profile Photo: A Platform For A Unified Community

Facebook flags

Facebook has added nearly 200 flags to its Profile Frames feature. This allows users to add overlay imagery filters of flags on top of profile photos.

Initially, the feature was for sports in team in 2016, but the company has started to allow people to submit their own frames since then. On February 23rd, 2017, Facebook is again pushing flags to more individual countries.

Users can now add their own flags with no special events or cause necessary.

To try the feature, users can go to facebook.com/profilepicframes on the web. Or on Facebook's mobile app, they can tap on their profile photo to select "Add frame" This allows users to select the country flag that will appear as a small overlay on the top corner of their profile photo.

While this is seen as a minor addition to the already sophisticated Facebook, it aligns with founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's idea of finding community on Facebook.

It's his manifesto to turn Facebook into a platform for a unified global community. He believes that people should be "coming together not just as cities or nations, but also as a global community."

Facebook flags

This minor addition can indeed spruce up experience when using Facebook. With flags on profile photos, it can be easier to know where a person is from, encouraging the start of a conversation. It can also add context to the conversations, particularly in threads full of strangers.

While the flags can also serve as a symbol of unity when people from different countries are joining into a conversation, the flags might occasionally highlight conflict.

If users are waving their country flag all over the platform, they can appear more foreign to other users elsewhere.

It can be patriotic nevertheless. And it also outlines the potential concerns with Facebook in taking its part on world issues. The company wants to maximize user engagement, but this feature is essentially a product change that aims to make Facebook align with the mission to create a safe, inclusive and informed global community.