Social-Media
The pandemic of Covid-19 has increased the importance of online communities in India, according to a new report.
Over the last year, the Covid-19 pandemic has proved to be a catalyst for the rising importance of online communities in India.
According to the Facebook and NYU's GovLab study, "The Power of Virtual Communities," 91% of respondents worldwide said they were able to provide some kind of support through these online groups, such as assisting local vulnerable residents with groceries during the lockdown, sharing vital health information, and providing emotional and financial support to local businesses.
The internet is the most critical party for 42.1 percent of Indians.
During the pandemic, over 92 percent of survey respondents said they received some kind of support from online community groups. When compared to responses from the rest of the world, over 38.8% of Indians said online groups have become "significantly more critical" (29.5 per cent).
According to the survey, over 1.8 billion people use Facebook Groups on a monthly basis around the world. More than half of all Facebook users are members of five or more communities, with more than 70 million administrators and moderators.
People use our family of apps to express themselves, communicate with each other, find meaningful connections, and create supportive communities, said Ajit Mohan, VP and MD of Facebook India. The pandemic has shown the importance of these online communities. People have come together in digital communities around a common trait or interest, and they have become places where people can find sympathy and support.
To learn more about the role of communities in the digital age, the role of leaders, and how Facebook can support them in running their businesses, the GovLab interviewed 50 leaders of Facebook Groups from 17 countries, 26 digital community experts from 11 countries, as well as Facebook internal research, literature review, and a parallel survey conducted by YouGov with 15,000 respondents from 15 countries.
