--- description: What is #LIUB? title: There's a Reason Everything on Facebook Is Blue Today image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte13eea2884e44461/698786628e0601b79b45b13a/rio-statue-blue-autism-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # There's a Reason Everything on Facebook Is Blue Today by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 2, 2015 12:48 PM CUT  The statue of Christ the Redeemer is lit up in blue for the "Light It Up Blue" campaign to mark the World Autism Awareness Day in Rio de Janeiro April 1, 2015. The statue of Christ the Redeemer is lit up in blue for the "Light It Up Blue" campaign to mark the World Autism Awareness Day in Rio de Janeiro April 1, 2015.Pilar Olivares—Reuters by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 2, 2015 12:48 PM CUT Earlier this week, Jay Z asked a group of musicians to turn their [Twitter avatars bright blue](http://time.com/3763487/tidal-avatar-blue-jayz/ "undefined") to promote his new music streaming service, [Tidal](http://time.com/3764675/tidal-for-all-jay-z-streaming-music-spotify/ "undefined"). But on Thursday, social media users might be noticing that many of their friends, family and, yes, favorite celebrities have decided to [“Light It Up Blue](https://www.autismspeaks.org/liub/what-liub "undefined")” as well. And it doesn’t have anything to do with a paid music subscription service. April 2 marks National Autism Day, and to raise awareness, Autism Speaks [explains](https://www.autismspeaks.org/liub/what-liub "undefined") on its site, “Thousands of iconic landmarks, communities, businesses and homes across the globe unite by shining bright blue lights in honor of the millions of individuals and families around the world affected by autism.” > [](https://twitter.com/AutismSpeaksEAC/status/583336557551063040) > [](https://twitter.com/autismspeaks/status/583340381028372480) And, of course, people on social media are participating by posting photos of themselves sporting the color and pictures of loved ones who have autism, all with the hashtag [#LIUB](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LIUB&src=tyah "undefined"). Even celebrity ambassadors Ronan Farrow and Carole King are getting in on the action: This blue definitely doesn’t make you feel blue. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3768263/light-it-up-blue-national-autism-day-awareness/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3768263/light-it-up-blue-national-autism-day-awareness/"},"headline":"There's a Reason Everything on Facebook Is Blue Today","datePublished":"2015-04-02T12:48:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:18:15.882Z","description":"What is #LIUB?","url":"https://time.com/3768263/light-it-up-blue-national-autism-day-awareness/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Autism","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte13eea2884e44461/698786628e0601b79b45b13a/rio-statue-blue-autism-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte13eea2884e44461/698786628e0601b79b45b13a/rio-statue-blue-autism-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The statue of Christ the Redeemer is lit up in blue for the \"Light It Up Blue\" campaign to mark the World Autism Awareness Day in Rio de Janeiro","caption":"The statue of Christ the Redeemer is lit up in blue for the \"Light It Up Blue\" campaign to mark the World Autism Awareness Day in Rio de Janeiro","creditText":"Pilar Olivares—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3768263/light-it-up-blue-national-autism-day-awareness/","name":"There's a Reason Everything on Facebook Is Blue Today"}}]}] ```