Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform, with over 2.9 billion monthly active users as of 2022. While many use Facebook simply to connect with friends and family, the platform has become much more – it has evolved into a community-building tool for people around the world.
Connecting People
At its core, Facebook connects people. The platform allows users to find and connect with friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, and even strangers who share similar interests. By building out one’s network on Facebook, users are able to stay up-to-date on the lives of people they care about.
Facebook’s algorithm shows users the posts that are most relevant to them based on their connections and interests. So a user’s News Feed becomes a personalized stream of updates from their communities. Through commenting, liking, and sharing posts, users interact with their connections on a regular basis. Even if someone moves away or relationships change, Facebook allows users to stay connected with important people and communities in their lives.
Joining Groups
Facebook Groups are a key way that niche communities form on the platform. Any user can create a Group and invite others to join around a common interest or goal. There are Facebook Groups for hobbies, professions, health conditions, parents, students, fans of books/shows/celebrities, and just about any other community you can think of.
Users often find Facebook Groups by searching for key terms related to their interests. Once in a Group, members can post questions, share updates, crowdsource information, meet like-minded people, organize events, coordinate projects, and more. Moderators help keep Groups on-topic and build a sense of community.
Group Examples
Here are a few examples of popular Facebook Groups:
- Parents groups for moms or dads to discuss parenting
- Fan groups for TV shows, celebrities, books, video games, etc.
- Groups for medical conditions, to share support and information
- Professional networking and industry groups
- Local community groups (city, neighborhood, etc)
- College alumni groups to stay connected after graduation
These niche communities allow people to discuss niche topics, participate in projects, and provide each other with support. The group format helps bring dispersed people together around shared identities, hobbies, locations, professions, life experiences, and more.
Local Community Building
Facebook also aims to connect people locally. The platform suggests that users become friends with others in their geographical area. There are also location-based Groups for cities, neighborhoods, apartment complexes, and more. Members can ask for local recommendations, coordinate meetups, post about community issues, and stay up-to-date on local news.
Neighborhood Groups foster a sense of community in the places people live. Similarly, local Buy Nothing groups allow users to gift items and do favors for their neighbors. Facebook recognizes that people have a desire to connect with those nearby – not just online connections, but in-person too. Features like Events and Marketplace also help bring local communities together online and offline.
Pages for Businesses, Organizations, and Influencers
Facebook Pages allow businesses, organizations, public figures, artists, influencers, publishers, and more to establish an official presence on Facebook. Fans can follow Pages to keep up with major brands, thought leaders, local shops, nonprofits, community organizations, and more.
Pages create mini-communities of fans and followers who are interested in that particular person, business, or organization. Features like livestreaming and shoppable posts also allow Pages to engage directly with their followers. While Pages are often used for marketing, they also foster communities of supporters and micro-influencers who rally around a brand or public figure.
Page Examples
Popular types of Facebook Pages include:
- Brands (companies, products, restaurants, etc.)
- Influencers, public figures, artists, creators
- Nonprofit and community organizations
- Local businesses (shops, services, etc.)
- Content publishers and bloggers
- Sports teams, athletes, leagues
- Bands, record labels, musicians
By following Pages, Facebook users can support their favorite brands, thought leaders, artists, community causes, local shops, and more. Pages allow diverse communities to form around shared interests.
Fundraising Communities
In addition to traditional advertising, Facebook enables community fundraising directly on the platform. Nonprofit organizations and personal fundraisers can create dedicated Fundraisers to collect donations for causes. Supporters can then share Fundraisers with their network to publicize a cause and attract donations.
Personal Fundraisers on Facebook are commonly used for:
- Medical expenses and hospital bills
- Funerals, memorials, and tributes
- Education costs and tuition
- Mission trips, volunteer trips, study abroad
- Causes like social justice, environment, animal welfare
- Community projects and outreach
- Families and individuals in crisis
By sharing Fundraisers, communities can rally around worthy causes and make an impact. Nonprofits also benefit from the wide reach of Fundraisers for ongoing initiatives and campaigns. The donation tools make it simple to fundraise on Facebook.
A Sense of Belonging
While critics argue that social media fosters loneliness and disconnection, proponents say that used intentionally it can actually create belonging. Facebook Groups, Pages, and Fundraisers all allow niche communities to develop around shared interests, life experiences, locations, values, and more. In many cases, online communities supplement in-person events, meetups, and interactions.
For minority groups or those with rare hobbies/conditions, Facebook may provide a unique sense of community if it’s difficult to connect in-person. The platform makes it easier to find one’s “tribe” and develop a sense of belonging among peers. With many local Facebook Groups now thriving too, there are opportunities to meet community members face-to-face.
Through community-building tools, events, groups, and local features, Facebook has become a platform for belonging. However, users themselves must proactively seek out meaningful and enriching communities on the platform.
Criticisms and Controversies
Despite its potential, Facebook has faced criticism when groups, events, and communities have gone awry:
- Spread of misinformation by Groups and Pages
- Polarizing echo chambers due to “bubble” effect
- Cyberbullying within certain Groups/communities
- Discrimination and hate speech incidents
- Data and privacy concerns around Facebook tracking
- Unwanted/inauthentic communities manipulated by bad actors
Facebook relies on users, moderators, and algorithms to detect harmful behavior. But at its scale, even with improved safety measures, Facebook will continue to struggle with downsides of community-building. The platform has enacted more moderation and verification to prevent abuse.
The Future of Community-Building
As Meta, Facebook’s parent company, pivots toward the metaverse and virtual reality spaces, new community-building opportunities and challenges will arise. There are open questions around how ethics, safety, privacy, and responsible design should shape virtual communities.
Augmented and virtual reality on platforms like Meta Horizon World could potentially bring people together in innovative ways. But Facebook’s past issues around harmful communities give reason for caution. Meta claims it is focusing extensively on safety and civility features for its metaverse community-building efforts.
Facebook will also continue to evolve as a community platform for the physical world. Features like Neighborhoods and local Groups indicate a direction toward more hyperlocal community-building. And with over one quarter of the world using Facebook, the platform remains vital for forging connections – though users must be judicious in choosing which communities to engage.
Conclusion
In summary, Facebook builds community through:
- Connecting friends, family, and acquaintances
- Niche Facebook Groups around interests, identities, and locations
- Pages for businesses, influencers, nonprofits, and public figures
- Fundraising around causes and community initiatives
- Local Groups and features tailored to neighborhoods
- Providing a sense of belonging through shared identity and experiences
But the platform has also faced backlash around echo chambers, misinformation, discrimination, and privacy. As Facebook plays a greater role in community-building both online and offline, it remains to be seen how the platform will evolve to address these tensions.