Social media has become a beacon of keeping up with world news and events, however in response to the horrific attacks that have plagued Paris, Facebook has added a feature to help users share their support for the country in its trying times.

The new addition allows users to superimpose a French flag image over their profile pictures. This mirrors the rainbow filter that Facebook offered in June in order to support the legalization of gay marriage.

The option to try this feature can be found on Facebook's official page under the "We stand together. ‪#‎JeSuisParis‬" post.

David Marcus, Facebook's vice president of Messaging Product, wrote:

"Show your support for the people of Paris by temporarily updating your profile picture with this new template we created. Thank you!"

The new profile picture filter follows the safety check that allows users to check in their whereabouts and if they are indeed safe. The feature sends push notifications to users who have friends in the troubled area, keeping them instantly updated.

"My thoughts are with everyone in Paris tonight. Violence like this has no place in any city or country in the world," Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Friday.

The safety check has been employed by Facebook before in the wake of natural disasters such as the earthquake in Nepal and Hurricane Patricia.

"When disasters happen, people need to know their loved ones are safe," Zuckerberg wrote at the time of the safety check's launch." It's moments like this that being able to connect really matters."