Meta is quietly rolling out a new “Communities” feature on Messenger. The feature is designed to help organizations, schools, and other private groups communicate in a more organized and structured way.
Meta introduced Communities on WhatsApp back in 2022. The feature lets people connect with others without needing an associated Facebook Group to do so.
That year the company also rolled out Community Chats on Messenger as a way for people in Facebook Groups to connect in real-time, but with this new feature, Meta is allowing people to create dedicated spaces for real-time communication on Messenger without being connected to a Facebook Group.
Communities consolidate multiple group chats into one place, and each Community features a dedicated "Home" space where admins can share updates and announcements. Up to 5,000 people can join a community through shareable invites.
The feature can be used to create a dedicated space for things like organizations, schools, and neighborhoods. It could also be used to create a dedicated space for connecting with friends with similar interests.
The company added the feature works similarly to Communities on WhatsApp, there is one key differentiator, which is the fact that Messenger Communities are connected to Facebook’s social graph.
While WhatsApp requires users to have someone’s phone number to invite them to a Community, Community builders on WhatsApp can grow their communities by inviting Facebook friends and friends of friends, Communities on Messenger, however, are designed for more public conversations when compared to Facebook groups.
The company noted that all current and future members of a Community can see chat content.
The feature is rolling out to all users globally.
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