Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Fan Groups, an improved Facebook Groups experience for creators and their communities on Facebook Gaming.
Gaming Fan Groups will help Facebook’s streamers, dubbed Facebook Gaming creators, and their fans develop deeper relationships during and outside of livestreams.
Fidji Simo, the head of the Facebook App, said in a statement that the company recognizes there is so much that goes into building a community and an audience for gamers. Until now, creators had a fragmented experience trying to grow communities outside of their livestreams. He said creators are fostering deep relationships, building brands, selling merchandise, and more. With the launch of Gaming Fan Groups, the intent is to be a place where creators and their communities can come together in one destination to connect in meaningful ways during and outside of livestreams, he said.
With the fan groups, creators can organize topics into threaded discussions that users can move into chat channels. The company is also introducing a new post type, Looking for Players, to help community members find other people within a streamer’s community to play with.
Badges earned from a creator’s livestream now carry over to the Fan Group, recognizing community members in the group for their engagement during a creator’s livestreams.
And Facebook has made improvements to Fan Group discovery to help viewers stay connected, and help creators grow their communities. Facebook will now suggest viewers join a creator’s Fan Group immediately after a livestream ends, and we’ll let people know about a creator’s Fan Group after they engage with their Page.
Fan Groups will be available to all partner gaming creators and will roll out to all Level Up creators in the coming weeks.