Meta quietly is rolling out a new "Communities" feature on Messenger, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The feature is intended to enable organizing, schools and other private groups to communicate in a much more structured way. Meta introduced Communities on WhatsApp back in 2022.

The feature enables people to chat with one another, but does not even necessarily require an affiliated Facebook Group to do so. Meta first introduced Community Chats within Messenger last year as a way for users of Facebook Groups to communicate in real time, but with this new feature, the company is allowing people to actually create designated spaces to communicate in real time on Messenger not necessarily attached to a Facebook Group.

The new launch already shows that Meta is giving Messenger a functionality extension so as to differentiate it from other messaging services, such as iMessage. It wants to add more social networking aspects to the app outside of Facebook by helping people find and connect with their community directly within Messenger.

Communities allow groups to be condensed into one place, and each community includes a special "Home" space where administrators can post updates and announcements. Meta claims up to 5,000 people can join a community via shareable invites.

It can be used to make dedicated spaces for organizations, schools, PTAs, and neighborhoods. It could create a dedicated space for connecting with a friend who shares an interest.

For instance, a neighborhood can initiate a Community, and everyone will keep in touch and be updated on a variety of subjects. For instance, they may establish fully dedicated group chats on various topics such as events to take place in the near future, security warnings, collection of garbage dates, and so forth. School-wise, a community can be initiated, and specific group chats may exist for every grade, and parents may participate in the discussions regarding their children.

Although it works similar to Communities on WhatsApp, Meta says there is key differentiator: Messenger Communities are tied to Facebook's social graph. You need to have someone's phone number to add them to a Community on WhatsApp. However, a WhatsApp Community builder will be able to grow her or his communities through inviting Facebook friends and friends of friends.

According to a help page, Meta says Communities on Messenger are intended for more public discussions than is typical of Facebook groups. For instance, it explains that all the existing and new members of a Community will be able to view the content in the chats.

The new feature is now available to all users worldwide.