So, you’ve created and fostered a group of like-minded people who share a common interest or experience. Your members regularly post photos, videos, articles, and more—solidifying your group as a seriously meaningful community. We love to see it!
"We help each other in every aspect of surfing. Whether that’s travel, surfing retreats, advice on wetsuits, bathing suits, sunscreen, I’ve seen the group really do some amazing things together."
Vanessa Y., Women Who Surf
But comments that accrue under a post only get you so far, and sometimes you crave a more casual, real-time communication where you and your members can go deeper into specific interests. You know the type—coordinating a last min event, sharing hot takes of some of your member's favorite TV show, trying to sensitively give emotional support to members in need. These aren’t things you want to talk about later, these are things you want to talk about now (or soon).
You want your community to connect and thrive, and so do we.
Group admins, meet Community Chats—a casual space for you and your members to have real-time and/or small group discussions. Whether connecting over an event or seeking expert advice, Community Chats are here to bring your group closer together. It’s dedicated Messenger chats for your Facebook group that can be accessed from your Messenger app, Facebook app, or your computer.
Now, we know you must have some questions for us—and we’ve got the answers!
Community Chats can complement your group’s feed by serving as extensions of group posts, allowing for real-time (and spontaneous!) interactions, fostering content sharing and collaboration, encouraging more conversations and deeper engagement, bringing group members closer together, and so much more
Justin B.
SneakerHeads
Whenever your group has a need for real-time communication and/or small group conversations, no matter your group’s size or age. Community Chats is accessible to all group members, however, each channel type has a different cap on how many members can join. Something to consider when choosing your channels!
“There is always chatter in the chat, which is awesome, because I don’t have to filter out through hundreds of pending posts, this is real-time where if you have a question and you want to know immediately, you go and you ask it right there.”
Martine S., McDonough Moms
You can start a community chat from Messenger or your Facebook group, and you can always access it from either the Messenger app, Facebook app, or your computer. Visit the Help Center for step by step instructions.
Please note: Community Chats is not available to all groups, countries, or people at this time. This means that some members won't be able to participate right away, and if you manage more than one group, there's a chance you won't have community chats available in your other group(s).
We’re glad you asked! There’s a channel/chat type to support any of your needs.
Social channel, to connect your members over any topic. Every member can see, join, and participate! Pro tip: you can even create a social channel for any of your events
Admin-only chat, to collaborate and manage your group with admins and moderators (all of whom are automatically added to these chats).
You can directly invite members to a community chat, or they can choose to join by going to the group’s page and selecting the chat in the left menu. In the app, tap [hamburger menu icon] to see the list of chats. Members can leave a chat they joined at any time. Learn more about inviting and onboarding members here.
