Facebook’s multi-app strategy adds Groups to the mix
As part of its multi-app strategy, Facebook has launched a Groups app to help people share faster and more easily with all the groups they are part of.
The company said in an official blog, “People use Facebook Groups every day to stay in touch with family, collaborate on projects, plan trips and offer support to friends. We built this app with the people who use Groups the most in mind.”
When a user opens the app, they’ll see all their Facebook Groups in one place. Groups they use most frequently are at the top, and they can quickly move between each group. They can also track notifications and easily control which notifications they want to see.
“In the new Discover tab, you’ll see groups suggested to you based on Pages you’ve liked, groups your friends are in and where you live. You can still use Facebook Groups in the main Facebook app and on desktop, and over time we’ll continue to make those experiences faster and better, too,” the company blog added.
The new app is Facebook’s broad based attempt to group apps by allowing multiple usages. The app can be used for personal group chatting, which is in direct competition with social messaging apps such as, WeChat, Line and Facebook’s own WhatApp. However the difference in WhatsApp and Groups lies in that Facebook does not allow advertising on WhatsApp, while Groups, much like Facebook will have ads in it.
The app can also be used for work purposes as it allows collaborating on projects. This puts it in competition with LinkedIn, Slack, Flow, Skitch and Evernote Business.
The app also allows offering support to people, which can work in favour of NGOs, who can use the app to reach out to people who require help.
With the Groups app, Facebook has created new avenues for different communities to come together. This broad-based app encompasses a variety of functions and it will be interesting to see how Facebook develops it further, by focus on it as a messaging platform or a collaboration platform.
