New Facebook Feature: Global Community-Building Efforts

Facebook community

Earlier this year, Facebook announced its plan to launch a cause-based feature to its platform to help users with community outreach and beyond. Known as Community Actions, this addition will be rolled out to various sections of Facebook a little at a time. To-date, few users have access, while the new feature will be launched to more U.S. accounts throughout 2019. Access is given by location.

What is Community Actions on Facebook?

Community Actions is a new feature where social media users can create and show their support for various actions and ideas. For instance, promoting fundraisers, removing controversial pages from the platform, calls for laws or changes to existing rulings, to updates to local infrastructure. Users can create their own causes via a page, while additional users can like or voice their support for the cause.

Meanwhile, local politicians will be notified of the pages, and its number of supporters, in an attempt to streamline the action process. (After all, how can they implement changes that they don’t know their voters want?) On the flip-side, users won’t know who else supports a cause, even if it is their own Facebook friends. The platform is looking to keep pages as private as possible, and that means not releasing who has supported each cause. The thought being that users are more likely to list their support when they aren’t worried about ongoing backlash.

Cutting Down on Social Media Controversy

In perhaps its most important move of all, Facebook will make Community Actions a Trump-free zone, simply to avoid users with differing opinions. To keep controversy as limited as possible, users will not be able to create pages with Trump or Pence as the subject of their petitions.

Why Did Facebook Create Community Actions?

Currently, there are a number of websites dedicated to various charity or political actions. Many have their entire platforms based around sharing ideals and getting as many people on board as possible. However, they’re likely too divided. The biggest such website, change.org has a whopping 250 million users, but when paired up against the social media giant, there’s no comparison.

With Facebook’s massive reach (2 billion users and counting) and their unique algorithm that reaches out to consumers based on their location, friends, and other interests, they are in a unique position to reach as many folks as possible.

There are additional benefits, such as verifying causes, contacting political parties, and more. In addition, users have the added benefit of getting their cause to the masses – a real chance. Strike the fancy of Facebook’s moderators (or computer program … no word on how info will be shared), and a particular cause could be potentially shown to billions of social media users.

As for the background behind Community Actions, it comes as part of Facebook’s pledge to help community efforts. This pledge was made two years ago to help communities better define and assess local issues. And, it’s a way for Facebook to remain relevant by updating their platform.

Community Actions is coming to your account soon, stay tuned for future involvement.

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