Facebook has quietly rolled out a new “Communities” feature for Messenger that allows users to create dedicated spaces for real-time communication, independent of Facebook Groups. This move follows the introduction of a similar Communities feature in WhatsApp last year.
The new Messenger Communities are distinct from the existing “Community Chats” feature, which is tied to Facebook Groups. With Communities, users can create dedicated spaces for up to 5,000 people to join and engage in multiple group chats on various topics. Each Community has a dedicated “Home” space where admins can share updates and announcements, and all members can view the entire chat content.
One key difference between Messenger Communities and WhatsApp Communities is that the former is connected to Facebook’s social graph. This means users can invite others to join a Community based on their Facebook profiles, without needing their phone numbers, as is required on WhatsApp. The new Communities feature is now rolling out globally to all Messenger users.
