The inaugural committee behind US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris have prepared a way for their supporters to virtually celebrate Inauguration Day 2021.
The Launch of the Inauguration Day Filter
While Donald Trump has been banned from Snapchat, Biden is collaborating with the platform. On January 19, 2021, Biden's team will release a special filter on Snapchat.
This is because the combination of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Capitol riot that took place on January 6, 2021 have made the traditional festivities impossible.
The filter works for both the front and back cameras. When using the front camera, users will be able to take a selfie in front of the Capitol with falling confetti in red, blue, and gold.
Flipping the camera will show Biden on a giant screen, greeting the user.
"Hey Snapchat! It’s me, Joe. Welcome to inauguration!" he says. Behind him is a sea of faces: a bunch of selfies of his supporters that were sent online.
The filter will also link its users to a livestream of the event.
The National Guard Will Be on Duty
The FBI has been warned of planned armed protests in the area, prompting the Department of Homeland Security to launch a massive security operation to keep the White House and Capitol safe on Inauguration Day.
According to USA Today, over 20,000 National Guard troops will be present. That's more soldiers than the US has in Afghanistan and Iraq combined, and is double the number of troops that former US president Barack Obama had during his inauguration in 2009.
This isn't the first time Biden's team has used social media and technology in their favor.
In September 2020, they released a Snapchat filter in an attempt to encourage supporters to vote early in the US presidential election. Users pointed their cameras at USPS mail boxes, receiving directions on how to mail their votes.
Around the same time, Biden's time put out in-game merch and designed an entire island for players of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
An Unorthodox Beginning to a Presidency
The state of the world right now already guarantees that Biden's presidency will be much different than that of those who came before him, so it's fitting that his inauguration will be one-of-a-kind as well.
That being said, for everyone's safety, hopefully the tensions will ease after Biden and Harris are sworn in.
As a precaution, Facebook changed its policies to temporarily ban the creation of the Washington D.C. area. They also had to suspend advertisements for gun accessories and other military equipment.