Facebook Groups: Bringing people together one window at a time
When Facebook was launched in 2004, it was meant as a platform to bring college students and their communities together. It has since evolved into a place that looks into each of our best moments.
I know for a fact that my Facebook personally is a look back. Photos of milestones, funny statuses shamelessly posted when I was 12, and life announcements have all been curated into a digital scrapbook of my life.
“Social networks are all about me and my friends and what we’re doing — and who their other friends are, and whether they’d like to be my friend too.” (Source: Matt Lake)
But Facebook also is something bigger than our digital scrapbooks. Facebook has now developed into almost a universe of its own within the internet, specifically within its Facebook Groups.
In 2020, Mark Zuckerburg, Facebook CEO, shifted Facebook’s strategic strategy to focus primarily on Facebook Groups, encouraging them to engage with more content and shift towards meaningful communities.
There are groups for everyone! Whether you’re trying to learn how to crochet, are an avid Disney Parks lover, or even are taking on a new diet, there’s a Facebook Group filled with people of like interests.
Facebook’s shift towards focusing on its internal online communities seemed to pay off when the COVID-19 Pandemic hit.
As COVID-19 spread across the planet like wildlife and countries began to lockdown, our need for interaction became increasingly desperate. One Facebook user, Barbara Duriau from Amsterdam, was caught between isolation and her wish to escape. She stared out the window and pondered what others may be seeing from the solitary and confining view of their windows around the world. With her idea, Barbara took a quick photo out her window and posted it to a group she named ‘View from My Window.’
Soon, people began to post views from their windows in the group from New York to Moscow, from Brussels to Mumbai. The photos were simple but accompanied by true life stories, and the stories were so personal and comforting. Although each user may be thousands and thousands of miles away, each post brought users connection and solace because they were all going through the same thing together.
The group allowed users to see the world through other people’s windows and eyes.
Looking back on early posts from the group is almost like a historical look back into the COVID-19 pandemic. Photos from nurse practitioners’ hotels leaving their homes in other states to help assist in NYC hospitals, isolated bedroom walls during self-quarantines, and views from guest rooms in families’ houses remind us of what the pandemic looked like in its early stages.
After less than a month, the group had gained over 1 million members. Today, View from My Window continues to connect people worldwide and published a book of the photos posted to the group.
A View from My Window is a prime example of what Mark Zuckerberg imagined when he shifted Facebook’s strategy toward the meaningful connection users find within groups. What started as a simple idea to bring her brain out of isolation when the world went on pause turned into a community that still brings people together. The group is the poster child for what a Facebook Group is and should be.
So whether you’re a former college athlete, an avid WWE watcher, or even a mom moving her soon into the dorms at the University of Florida, there’s a group for everyone.
