Calling faith communities the “best of Facebook,” the social media giant’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said she’s looking forward to the day when churches and other religious groups begin hosting services in virtual reality on the platform as many flocked to the service amid the pandemic to stay connected.
Sandberg made her intentions known during a recent virtual faith summit with several religious groups in which she highlighted the critical role Facebook played when communities of faith were unable to gather as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sandberg told the group – “I sometimes reflect on how much harder the experience for the last year might have been if the pandemic had taken place just a few years earlier because it used to be you needed a TV studio to do what you can now do with your smartphone.”
Sandberg explained that well before the pandemic, Facebook began working with faith communities to see how the company could better serve them and those efforts proved fruitful during the pandemic.
She said Facebook built a team in the organization to better serve people of faith and houses of worship globally.
While technology will never be a substitute for joining together in a space of worship, Sandberg believes it will empower them.
She added – “Communities of faith represent the best of Facebook and we hope to keep it that way now and in the future.”