Facebook is putting a spotlight on communities
Wanting to grow an online community but worried about not hosting it as a forum on your own website?
Yes, it’s true that we don’t own Facebook, but Facebook are making it their goal to help us connect with others to build out our Facebook Groups.
I’ve thought about this extensively myself and often wondered if I should be building my own personal forum.
Some would say that forums are dead! I don’t think they are, but I definitely think although we don’t own Facebook, I highly doubt they will close down any day soon!
There are some great reasons why Facebook is one of the best platforms to grow your community.
The main one being that it can take so long to direct a great deal of traffic to your own website and Facebook has the traffic already sitting there right for the picking.
I also believe that the Facebook platform is far more interactive and they have recently allowed you to host your own learning modules in your group which I think this is great for online educators.
People have always come to Facebook to connect with friends and family, but over time, it’s become more than that. It’s become a place to connect with neighbors, colleagues and people around the world who share common interests and experiences.
Through these connections, people are learning, exploring and doing more with one another.
Facebook believes that everyone can find a meaningful community on Facebook through their groups.
The team at Facebook are dedicated to helping us as admins to make it easier for people to find and engage with our groups, so they have updated the look of their app to feature groups more prominently.
Check out their latest Facebook Group updates
Facebook has completely redesigned the groups tab as a dedicated space for groups’ content. With this tab, you and your members can see a personalized feed of activity across all of your groups, so that you can stay connected and easily engage with group content.
People can also discover new groups more easily with improved recommendations to quickly find groups that match their interests, making it easier for them to find you and your community.
They are also making it easier to find and engage with groups throughout the Facebook experience.
They recommend groups that are relevant to what people are doing within Marketplace, Today In, the Facebook Gaming tab and Facebook Watch.
For example, if someone is watching Red Table Talk in Facebook Watch, they will show them an option to join the Red Table Talk Fan group so they can watch and discuss each episode with other fans.
Lastly, Facebook knows that different communities have different needs, so they are testing unique features for different types of groups.
For example:
- The new health support group will unlock features designed to meet the needs of this specific group. The first will be a privacy feature that allows a member to ask an admin to post on their behalf, enabling the member to make a sensitive post without revealing their identity to everyone in the group.
- They are also piloting a new gaming groups feature that will allow members to create different chat threads and connect around topics of shared interests.
- Job groups will have a new post type for members to share job openings and an easy way for job seekers to filter posts and apply on Facebook.
- Buy and sell groups will have a dedicated section for listings and a separate space for other discussions.
Facebook has said that they look forward to making these experiences available across the Facebook platform in the coming months!
On a personal note, I use to sell a lot of second hand household items on eBay, new and old. But ever since Facebook brought in their Buy/Sell Groups, I switched from eBay and had quicker sales with zero fees!
I honestly believe that the majority of businesses are turning to the Facebook Platform to grow their communities and culture and my opinion is that you should too.
I hope this article was helpful in making your decision on where to host your community and grow your own tribe!
In the meantime, if you want to be a part of the fun we are having in our Facebook Group and interested in learning more online marketing strategies for your business then I welcome you to join our community by clicking the banner image below.
