Facebook groups have been around since the early days of Facebook, providing a way for people to connect around shared interests, causes, hobbies and more. At their peak, Facebook groups were a hub of activity and engagement on the platform. However, in recent years, usage and interest in groups has declined. This raises the question – are Facebook groups still a relevant part of the Facebook experience in 2023?
The popularity of Facebook groups
Facebook groups experienced a surge in popularity in the 2010s. By 2017, there were over 1 billion people using groups every month. The initial appeal of groups was the ability to connect with niche communities around specific topics and interests. Facebook capitalized on this by introducing new features for groups, like video chat, online events, admin tools and more. This drove even more usage and cemented groups as a core part of the Facebook experience.
Some key stats on the growth of Facebook groups:
- Over 70 million Facebook groups created by the end of 2017
- 100 million new group memberships every day in 2017
- There were over 1 billion group members and admins by 2017
Groups covering topics like parenting, hobbies, health conditions, faith, politics and more flourished as people sought out communities. The initial surge in interest and usage made groups one of the standout features of Facebook during this period.
The decline of Facebook group engagement
However, over the last few years, engagement with Facebook groups has started to decline:
- A 2021 internal Facebook report said that time spent in groups had dropped 6% year-over-year
- admins have cited lower engagement on posts and fewer active discussions
- Some niche hobby and interest groups have seen declines in membership
There are a few possible reasons for this decline:
- Increased options for group-based communities outside Facebook, like Slack, Discord, Reddit and more.
- Group recommendations and discovery features on Facebook are lacking compared to competitors.
- Younger users are shifting more of their time to visual platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
- Fatigue or disenchantment with large Facebook communities that become overrun by ads, influencers and spam.
While many groups are still active, the overall momentum and buzz around Facebook groups has dissipated in recent years as users have shifted their community interests elsewhere.
The relevance of Facebook groups in 2023
Given the decline in usage and engagement, are Facebook groups still a relevant part of the Facebook platform in 2023? There are arguments on both sides:
The case for Facebook groups still being relevant
- Sheer size – There are still over 1 billion monthly active users of groups
- Niche interests – For some highly specific interests, Facebook groups are still the only or best online community
- Local groups – Hyperlocal groups remain highly active for organizing local events, recommendations, selling items and more
- Closed communities – Private groups for families, friends, workplaces and alumni remain popular
- New features – Facebook continues adding new group features like chat, audio channels and community admin tools
While overall engagement is down, groups can still have relevance for serving niche needs and interests a general social feed may not satisfy. The “long tail” of smaller, hyperlocal groups remain active and useful on the platform.
The case against Facebook groups still being relevant
- Declining usage metrics – As highlighted earlier, time spent and member growth is down significantly year-over-year.
- Empty or dead groups – Many groups see little activity or most posts going ignored.
- Spam and quality issues – Groups often suffer from spam posts, self-promotion and low quality or irrelevant discussion.
- Echo chambers – Niche community groups can become polarized “echo chambers” around extreme or fringe views.
- User fatigue – Long-time users feel existing groups have become stale or grown too large and disengage.
For many Facebook users, the groups they initially joined have lost relevance. The network effects that made groups useful have diminished as engagement declines and users migrate elsewhere. Most content consumption is happening in the main News Feed again. Facebook may be struggling to articulate the unique value proposition of groups for new users as well.
The future of Facebook groups
Given the diverging perspectives on Facebook groups in 2023, what does the future look like? Here are some possibilities:
- Slow fade into irrelevance – Engagement continues to decline and groups fade back as a minor feature. Most group activity shifts to competitor platforms.
- Niche community revival – Facebook doubles down on group features and recommendations to better highlight active niche communities, stopping the decline.
- Local focus – Groups pivot to be primarily about hyperlocal connections and events as broader communities move to other platforms.
- New use cases – AR/VR, messaging, events or other new features make groups newly engaging and interactive again.
Facebook groups were undoubtedly one of the standout social media innovations of the 2010s. They facilitated billions of connections and filled a unique niche in the Facebook ecosystem. But their relevance has now likely peaked. Facebook may be able to revive engagement around key niches and local communities, but groups seems unlikely to be a primary driver of Facebook’s future growth. Competitor platforms now seem better poised to capture the mainstream of interest-based online community activity. But groups still serve some core use cases that may yet have value to a subset of Facebook users into the future.
Conclusion
Facebook groups experienced a meteoric rise in usage and popularity last decade as interest-based online communities became a major draw. But engagement with groups has been declining over the past few years as users shift activity elsewhere and larger groups become less personal. While they remain relevant for some niche use cases, Facebook groups are likely past their peak and will fade into a smaller feature unless Facebook can identify new ways to revive engagement and participation. For now, the era of Facebook groups as a social media phenomenon seems to be giving way to new forms of online community built around different platforms and use cases.