Another day, another app from Facebook.
That seems to be the trend lately for the social networking giant, as seemingly every aspect of its service has been siloed into its own app. The latest is Facebook Groups for, you guessed it, managing and interacting with different groups.
More than 700 million users interact with groups in Facebook every month, which is surprising when you consider how buried the associated tab is in the “More” section of the main Facebook app.
When I first opened the new Groups app, I immediately realized how badly I’ve neglected my group life in Facebook. There are a few I’m still active in from time to time, but most are outdated from old events, social circles, and random projects.
For heavy groups users, this new app will likely be a godsend. It’s like having a bunch of mini-Facebooks in one app that you can share with and receive notifications from.
Groups is the fifth app from Facebook’s Creative Labs, a small team of very talented (and some ex-Apple) designers behind Paper, Slingshot, Mentions, and the most recent Rooms app. There are no ads, and unlike Messenger, no plans to force users to download it if they want to access groups in the future.
It’s easy to imagine an app like this eventually morphing into something that could take on business-oriented social networks like Slack. There have been recent rumors that Facebook is making a “Facebook at Work” that will compete with the likes of Google Drive, Microsoft Office, and LinkedIn. Whatever that ends up looking like, Groups could very well play a big part.
Facebook Groups is a free download in the App Store.
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
One response to “Facebook’s latest app is dedicated to groups”
Going to need a whole folder for my Fb apps pretty soon.