April 2020 - The world is in the middle of an unprecedented crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. With a cure or vaccine yet to be developed for the virus, the best prevention for now is social distancing and self-quarantine. 

Likee, a pioneering global short video platform under the Singapore-based BIGO Technology, recently joined forces with the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs in Russia to encourage people to stay at home and keep themselves in self-quarantine, as per the advice of the Government of the Russian Federation.

To ensure maximum participation, an online challenge #I’mStayingHome was initiated on Likee, in which users were encouraged to shoot videos about life in quarantine. Creative videos emerged, including how people spend time with children or younger siblings, how they cook, how they sew and even shared their impressions after watching TV shows, etc.  Nearly 30 thousand videos were created under the hashtag, accumulating more than 30 million views.

The initiative was one of the ways to support the efforts already undertaken by the Russian government, which included paid holiday for people to stay at home and the closure of all entertainment outlets to make the fight against Covid-19 more effective. In appreciation of Likee’s partnership, the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affair issued a letter to Likee for driving the in-app campaign.

Various Russian celebrities also joined the campaign. For example, Anastasia Knyazeva, who is considered “the most beautiful girl” by international media, was featured on UK-based Daily Mail with her Likee videos being shared on this outlet. Vitaliy Kornienko, who starred in Russian sports drama Ice 2, also posted her video on the app as part of the challenge.

Apart from Russia, several campaigns are being launched globally by Likee to encourage people to stay at home and prevent the spread of the virus.  The app has launched a dedicated dashboard to counter misinformation through the provision of trusted information as well as the latest COVID-19 news by the World Health Organization (WHO).  The app also introduced different coronavirus-related hashtags, where users can share Do’s and Don’ts, and even debunk myths that circulate on the Internet. In America, the #stayhomechallenge has gained millions of views for its creative videos within a week.

In India, Likee collaborated with legendary cricketer Yuvraj Singh-backed Healthians, one of the country’s largest doorstep health test providers. Doctors and nutritionists associated with Healthians interacted with Likers and answered all their queries related to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

In Indonesia, Likee Live Health Clinic offers free online consultation to help contain the spread of COVID-19 among the society. Doctors and nurses are being invited to join app challenges and create videos in order to teach people how to correctly wash their hands and protect themselves. 

With more and more people getting and staying connected during this period, we are also starting to see a stronger demand for online social interactions and more varied content in areas such as education, food and entertainment (concerts).   

The spokesperson of BIGO Technology Mike Ong said, “Likee is always committed to undertake social responsibility and make contribution to the local society. With a variety of initiatives in different countries Likee has emerged as a responsible global platform in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.”

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