Customers can use a new social media feature to remind friends and family that free COVID-19 tests are available through the mail.
The Postal Service has introduced a social media frame that says “I got my COVID test kits delivered by USPS” on a fade-in light blue background, with the organization’s sonic eagle logo below that.
Social media frames allow users to frame their online portrait with a message or image that is meaningful to them.
USPS is only the second government agency to have a social media frame accepted by Facebook, according to Mary Beth Levin, the Postal Service’s social media strategy and analytics manager.
The first was the Department of Health and Human Services, and it was similarly COVID-19-related, she said.
The frame was a labor of love for Levin, who worked in public health before joining the Postal Service and even now teaches at Georgetown University as an associate professor of family medicine and community health.
Losing a team member to COVID-19 only added to the mission, she said, and with reports of coronavirus infections on the rise, the message is as timely as ever.
“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” Levin said. Comments on the USPS Facebook page include:
• “Thank you for the tests, and the speedy, cheap deliveries throughout.”
• “Very thoughtful and needed service.”
• “Just placed our second order. Thank you for doing this a second time for households!”
• “Kind of makes you proud.”
“It’s been gratifying,” Levin said.
To create a frame, users simply click on their Facebook profile image, choose “add frame,” and then search for “USPS Test Kit.”
USPS has surrounded its sonic eagle logo with the frame for its own Facebook profile.
Frames must first be created on Facebook. The result can be imported to other social media sites if desired.
The Postal Service has delivered hundreds of millions of COVID-19 tests — 90 percent within two days — since February.
