After recently running a series of workshops to help community leaders make best use of Facebook groups to maintain connection during COVID-19, Facebook has now announced a new schedule of education events for Facebook group admins, which are designed to help people better manage their online communities, while also facilitating more connection between community leaders.
Facebook’s initial Community Connect event, which focused specifically on key pointers for managing groups during COVID-19, saw solid response, which has prompted Facebook to provide more insight and assistance.
Over the coming months, Facebook is planning to run a series of sessions, each focused on a different element of online community management:
- May: Community Foundations. Going back to basics for setting up and maintaining a thriving community.
- June: Growth in Your Community. Ways to promote your community, manage growth and get the right people in.
- July: Engaging Your Community. Tips for getting your members talking and for what to post and when.
- August: Managing Conflict. Strategies for managing conflict.
- September: Hosting Events. Getting your community together online and off.
The sessions will provide guidance and pointers for those looking to make the most of their Facebook groups, while each will also include special guests (Mark Zuckerberg himself turned up at the first Community Connect event) and product announcements relevant to facilitating group engagement.
Groups have become an increasing area of focus for The Social Network over the last few years, and even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Facebook says that some 200 million people are now members of “very meaningful” groups – groups which, upon joining, quickly become “the most important part of our social network experience” – while the total number of people using Facebook groups each month now exceeds 1.4 billion. And amid the current pandemic, millions have also joined COVID-19 support groups, helping to keep them informed of the latest updates and happenings.
Given the rising reliance on groups, it makes sense for Facebook to facilitate more education sessions, which should help to keep group admins up to date on the latest tools and assistance measures (minimizing the spread of misinformation), while also helping leaders make the most of their efforts, and manage their group interactions more effectively.
You can view all the sessions from Facebook’s first Community Connect event here, while you can stay up to date on coming education sessions here.
