Creating Online Community Engagement Beyond Zoom

So, have you heard of Zoom? Ha! Of course, you have! Over 200 million of us are using Zoom every day for our meetings, classes, trainings, conferences, and anything else we had planned to do in person in the past month.

There are countless uses for teleconferencing software that we can be thankful for today. Especially being able to actually see people in real time and have conversations in real time “face-to-face.” But I’m also hearing that lots of you are struggling with actually experiencing and building engaged communities in a virtual world.

While nothing can replace in-person gatherings and community (I can’t be the only one that jumps up and down when someone says they’re going to stop by and talk to us through our dining room window), engaged communities can absolutely be created and fostered virtually.  And even lead meeting IRL (in real life), which we know will happen again some day. Here are 4 ways you can create an engaged community beyond using Zoom calls and meetings.

Facebook Groups

You might not like Facebook and that’s okay. But let me just say that as of December 2019 (before Corona), there were 1.62 million active daily users on Facebook. And monthly, 2.45 billion people log in to the platform. So, roughly 31% of the world’s entire population is on Facebook monthly.

So, you might not like Facebook, but when you want to create community engagement, one of the best ways to start is by going where the people already are.

One of the great things about Facebook Groups is that you can make them private or public. I am part of several highly engaged Facebook Groups (both private and public) that I participate in weekly and get so much encouragement, connection, and inspiration out of. They have even led to meeting people IRL that have become great friends! And isn’t that ultimately the point? I think so!

Through thought-provoking content to posts that prompt daily engagement to encouraging people to connect outside the group, there are tried and true ways to not only create engaged community in Facebook groups but to foster community in real life too.

You might not like Facebook, but I’m definitely a fan of the engaged communities I’m a part of and it’s something people are craving right now! Your FB group could be THE one to provide that connection, encouragement, and inspiration people are looking for right now!

Facebook Live

Another way to use Facebook to encourage community is through Facebook Lives. Live videos are a great way to interact with people in your groups, through your page, or from your personal profile. The Facebook algorithm favors LIVE videos (over pre-recorded or static ones). When you go LIVE consistently, you’ll see higher reach and engagement with your videos. Facebook Lives give you the opportunity to connect on a deeper level with people AND it sparks more engagement, which is exactly what we’re looking to create right now.

The other great thing about Facebook Lives is that they’re available for replay over time and people can watch them at any time (and feel like they are part of the conversation) even if they couldn’t make it live. If you’re looking to create community engagement, Facebook lives are a great way to increase engagement and foster community.

Instagram Live

Another platform that is great for fostering engaged communities online is Instagram. Did you know that every day there are 500+ million active Instagram accounts?! That’s more than the number of active accounts every day on Facebook… And nearly all of those daily active accounts use Instagram stories.

Using Instagram stories, you can also go live and spark real time conversations with people. These make you feel more personable, authentic, real and approachable. And the more authentic you feel to people, the more people get to know, like, and trust you, which increases your…you guessed it: engagement! Instagram lives are a great way to foster an engaged community!

Instagram Posts

Instagram posts are another great way to create and foster an engaged community. People literally go to Instagram for entertainment, inspiration, and COMMUNITY! You have the opportunity to meet people where they are at by providing community for them!

Through the images you share, the stories you tell, and the invitations you make in your posts, you can create and foster a growing engaged community through one of the biggest platforms used every day by millions of people around the globe.

While so many of us are using Zoom more than ever before, there’s a start and end to our Zoom conversations and an exclusivity about them that is appropriate at times. But when we, and all those around us, are craving to be part of an engaged community while living in a virtual world, let’s go beyond Zoom and create the community everyone is craving. There will come a time when we’re all together again and what better time to invest in future real life relationships than now?!