Facebook

At Facebook, we strive to put people at the center of all of our products and design every experience on the site to be social. This is obvious in products like photos, where pictures are organized around the people that appear in them. We also want to bring the benefits of social design to other experiences, like those that help people stay safe and secure. Today, we're announcing one such feature—a new way of reporting content on Facebook that allows people to notify a member of their community, in addition to Facebook, when they see something they don’t like.

We encourage people on Facebook to use the report buttons located across our site to let us know if they find content that violates our terms of use so we can take it down. But taking down harassing online comments won’t necessarily help people solve the underlying problem in the offline world. Social reporting is a way for people to quickly and easily ask for help from someone they trust. Safety and child psychology experts tell us that online issues are frequently a reflection of what is happening offline. By encouraging people to seek help from friends, we hope that many of these situations can be resolved face to face.

Right now, these report flows are in place for everyone on Facebook for photos and wall posts. We plan to extend the functionality to Profiles, Groups, Pages and Events soon. Today’s social safety features build on our January announcement of a new method of social authentication that enables people to use their friend connections to prove their identity and secure their accounts.

 Reporting Flow Screenshots

 People can click on the blue “report” link and see the following dialogue:

First you can choose (A) I don’t like this photo, or (B) This photo is bullying or harassing me, or (C) No, this photo is about something else.

Screen A1 – Selected “I don’t like this photo”

Screen A2 – Selected send a message to Carolyn Wilson (reporter also has the option to remove the friendship link or block the person)

Screen A3

Screen B1 – Selected “This photo is harassing or bullying me”

Screen B2 – Selected “Get help from a trusted friend” (reporter also has the option to block and/or report).  Reporter is invited to enter an email address and given suggested language.

Reporter has chosen Facebook friend and written their own message.

Screen B3

Screen B4 – If the reporter also chooses to block the person, they will see this acknowledgement (note that the name of the person blocked does not show in the message – this is a bug).

Screen C1 – Selected this photo is about something else

Screen C2 – Reporter is given option to send a message, remove the friendship link, block and/or report

 Screen C3 – Reporter has selected “Get help from a trusted friend.”  Suggested text is provided but can be customized.

Screen C4