This month, Facebook is participating in Black Business August, an effort to invest in the Black business community in partnership with U.S. Black Chambers.

All month, the social platform will host virtual events that spotlight small businesses and offer training seminars on topics such as finance, health, and fashion. These virtual trainings and small business panels will be offered free of charge, and you can view its full schedule of events and register here.

In addition, the network’s platform for Black businesses and creators dubbed Facebook Elevate will host themed weekly programming set to topics including health and wellness, finance and wealth, beauty and fashion, and food and beverage. The series not only includes seminar-style learning, but also interactive events like a workout and cooking exercise.

Facebook is also partnering with media company the Shade Room in a Facebook Live event to discuss the pandemic’s impact on minority-owned business, with the promise of announcements and surprises. The live event is scheduled to take place on the Shade Room’s Facebook page on Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET.

It seems like a good opportunity to tune in to the small businesses that Facebook is planning to feature. Those who do won’t be the only ones spending some of their time on the platform.

Now that August has arrived, the big Facebook boycott that made headlines in June has come to an end, as pledge to refrain from spending with the platform was meant only for July. Digiday is reporting that many of the small businesses that took the month off are now returning to the platform, showing their dependency on its ability to drive revenue, regardless of its response to the boycott.

Taking a month off from Facebook was reportedly not a realistic option for many small businesses, according to managing director at Moonshine Marketing, Jeremy Sonne, when speaking to Digiday. “Most brands, especially DTC brands that I work with, more than half of their revenue comes from Facebook and Instagram.”

Several large advertisers—including Coca-Cola, J.M. Smucker Co., Mars, HP, CVS Health, and Verizon will reportedly be holding the pause button on their campaigns, some through the end of the year. While Facebook’s reputation isn’t looking so shiny these days, the boycott has done little to detract from its profits.

As for whether participants of the boycott are pleased with the ‘Book’s response is not yet apparent, though the platform just recently took steps to removing a post from President Trump for the first time on Wednesday.

Top: Facebook headquarters (image via Facebook)

Brittany Siminitz

JCK Contributing Editor