Meta launches Forum for Facebook, lets people discuss topics like Reddit

Meta rolls out Forum, a Reddit-like Facebook Groups and community conversations app available for iPhone users. Currently, it is only available for the US market. Global launch of the app remains unclear.

In Short

• Meta launches Forum in the US
• It is a standalone Facebook Groups and community conversation app
• It is integrated with an AI-powered “Ask” tab

Meta appears to be doubling down on building more apps. After launching Instants, an app and feature similar to Snapchat a few days earlier, the tech giant rolls out a Reddit-like app called Forum in the US. The new app is designed for Facebook Groups and community conversations. Similar to Reddit, the app focuses on topic-based discussions, advice sharing and AI-assisted answers instead of traditional social feeds.

As of now, the app is only available for iPhone users in the US and has not been rolled out to other markets yet. Meta describes Forum as a “dedicated space built for deeper discussions, real answers and communities you care about.”

How Meta Forum works

The Forum lets users sign in with their Facebook account. Once logged in, Forum displays posts from Facebook Groups in a Reddit-style feed. Users can browse discussions, discover new Groups, and post directly within communities. Meta says the app is designed to help users focus more on conversations and less on trending content.

Interestingly, users can post using nicknames, although activity still remains connected to their Facebook account and Groups. Any content shared through Forum will also appear inside the related Facebook Groups on the main Facebook platform.

The app also includes a lightweight profile section that mainly showcases a user’s Group activity and posts.

This is not the first time Meta has experimented with a dedicated Groups experience. Back in 2014, Facebook had launched a standalone Groups app, but it was eventually shut down in 2017.

Meta also includes AI inside Forum

One of the app’s major additions is a new AI-powered “Ask” tab. Users can simply type a question, and Forum will generate answers by pulling information from discussions happening across different Facebook Groups.

The AI responses also link back to the original posts and conversations used to generate the answer, allowing users to explore the full discussion thread if needed. Meta is also using AI to assist Group administrators with moderation and management tools.

Last month, according to a Wall Street Journal report, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told employees that AI-driven efficiencies could help the company develop and launch new apps much faster than before. Now, do people need more apps in the era of AI? That may become clearer in the coming days.

Meta has a history of adopting features from rivals. Recently, it introduced a new image-sharing feature called ‘Instants’, drawing inspiration from Snapchat and BeReal. Earlier, it rolled out Threads, which appears as Meta’s take on X, formerly Twitter. Now, Meta has not officially confirmed whether the Reddit-like Forum will launch globally, but the move does hint at the company’s growing interest in rolling out more standalone apps alongside AI-powered experiences.

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