The future of online communications

Online communities pop up when groups of people with a common interest or goal meet on the same digital platform – intentionally or unintentionally. 

 

In the first iteration of the internet, people used chat rooms or forums to find each other. As we moved to web 2.0, the rise of user-generated content and social media caused a migration of community to Facebook and Twitter.

 

When Facebook introduced groups in 2010, the role of social media in community building really took off. As of August 2022, there were over 10 million Facebook groups with 1.8 billion monthly active users. 

 

Since the pandemic, the average overall time spent on the internet has fallen, but social media use is still on the rise.

 

Humans are wired for community and the continued rise in social media use is partly a reflection of that.

 

Many charities use social media to look after their communities. For example, Autistic Girls Network has a Facebook community for people who want to support its campaigns and have positive conversations about autism in girls.

 

And numerous groups have been created to support the boom in Facebook challenges like this one for a squats challenge in aid of GOSH with a whopping 15.7k members!

 

There are lots of positives about caring for communities on social media. As Susannah Whittle, Social Media Manager from Sue Ryder points out, “I think…due to the nature of some platforms a community finds its way there without even trying.” If we want to meet our communities where they are – social media is a strong contender. 

 

However, we’re increasingly aware of a clash of values between social media and charities. As we transition into Web 3.0 and concerns about data privacy and hate speech on social media grow, we could see our communities move to other familiar community platforms like Slack, Guild or Circle.

 

 

Data privacy

 

What really happens to our community’s data is an increasing concern. Charities advertising on the Meta platforms recently came under fire for using Meta’s ‘pixel’ – a piece of code that you can place on your site to track user behaviour. The data is shared with Facebook to help with targeting and measuring conversions.

 

The pixel is designed to help advertisers, but it does collect personally identifiable information and we don’t really know how Meta is using that data. It’s a genuine concern. Meta has recently been fined a record €1.2 billion for transferring data captured in the E.U. to the U.S. without proper safeguards in place. 

 

 

Experiences of vulnerable and minoritised communities

 

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, large changes on the platform have led to increases in racism and antisemitism.

 

In the 12 hours following his takeover the Network Contagion Research Institute reported that the use of the N word increased 500% alongside a surge in anti-Jewish rhetoric.

 

Social media users are conscious of this hostile environment. In a survey of more than half a million internet users, Global Web Index asked, “‘what could be improved about social media?” and 45% answered, “less bullying/offensive commentary.”

 

The research also found that 76% of internet users participate in an online community outside of social media and 60% of businesses own their own branded online community.

 

With ongoing speculation that platforms like Twitter might collapse completely, is the future of online communities elsewhere?

 

Michelle Goodall, Founder of alternative community platform Guild, says: “The impact on society as a whole as this once most social of social platforms implodes is truly sad.”

 

 

The rise of remote working

 

At the beginning of 2023, the Office for National Statistics reported that 44% of UK workers were home or hybrid working. Alongside increased homeworking, there’s been increased adoption of digital community tools. For example, in 2019 online community tool Slack had 8.7 million daily active users compared to 25.7 million by the end of 2022. 

 

If it’s important to meet our audiences where they are to build community, the familiarity with alternative community tools may give us more choice.

 

As we emerge from the pandemic into a new online era, many community managers are already moving their communities from social media to platforms like Guild or Circle. These decentralised platforms allow organisations to have more control over how their community’s data is used or how their community is branded, for example. 

 

Gabriela Brasil, Productivity Specialist and Head of Community at 4 Day Week Global has moved their communities to Circle. Brasil says: “Everybody on social media is just there to show, not to listen and what I’m seeing is that communities want a space to be more vulnerable and share and have a space where they can engage and connect because in the end, we are humans looking for connections and conversations.”