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Social interactions in which bacteria respond to one another by modifying their phenotype are central determinants of microbial communities. It is known that interspecific interactions influence the biofilm phenotype of bacteria; a phenotype that is central to the fitness of bacteria. However, the underlying role of fundamental ecological factors, specifically coexistence and phylogenetic history, in biofilm formation remains unclear. This study examines how social interactions affect biofilm formation in multi‐species co‐cultures from five diverse environments. We found prevalence of increased biofilm formation among co‐cultured bacteria that have coexisted in their original environment. Conversely, when randomly co‐culturing bacteria across these five consortia, we found less biofilm induction and a prevalence of biofilm reduction. Reduction in biofilm formation was even more predominant when co‐culturing bacteria …