Facebook Just Added Some New Features for the Tokyo Olympics, Including a Games Hub and AR Effects

Social Media Today reveals that with the COVID-delayed 2020 Olympics now underway in Tokyo, Facebook has just outlined a range of tools to help users engage with the event, including a dedicated Games hub, AR effects for Stories, and video highlights to keep you up to date.

The platform’s main addition is its new Games hub, which will include highlights, team and athlete overviews, explainers of the events and more. The hub will also feature notes on Olympic history for additional context and will additionally highlight posts from your friends about the Games. You can also follow the hub to get alerts about Games updates.

“This summer, people around the world will use our apps to experience the Games. We’re rolling out features across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to help people discover content and cheer on their teams.

On Facebook, we’ll have a hub of information, including highlights from official Olympic broadcast partners, team and athlete overviews, explainers of competitions new to the Games, Olympic history, as well as posts from friends and more. Fans can visit the hub here or by clicking on the #Olympics or #Tokyo2020 hashtags.

Through augmented reality effects on Instagram, fans can get a unique experience in both Stories and Reels. In one AR effect, fans can attempt to mirror the movements of Miraitowa, the official Olympics mascot and earn AR medals for their performances. This effect is now available via the @olympics Instagram account. Another effect, available via the @Tokyo2020 Instagram account, features the official beat music of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The official Olympics chatbot is now available on WhatsApp. Leveraging the WhatsApp Business API, the chatbot will share the Olympic schedule, tune-in information for local broadcasts of the Games around the world, and the latest news and medal standings. ​​The chatbot will also include official stickers and a quiz on the various Olympic events. And fans can engage with it to explore the #StrongerTogether campaign from the Olympics.

We’re excited to connect people around the world to the Games and help fans cheer on their favorite teams, athletes and moments this summer on our apps.”