Now that we're spending so much time at home and especially glued to social media, you might have thought about starting a Facebook group . If so, but you're not quite sure how, today we'll explain the simple steps you need to follow to set one up as an administrator and manage it. Let's get started.
The usefulness of groups on Facebook
One of the most interesting tools that Facebook still has is the creation of groups. And it is that in the end we are social beings who like to put thoughts in common and that, although it is already possible to do it in the open, it may be more comfortable or desirable to do in private in certain cases.
And that's precisely what the platform's groups offer us. A somewhat more "exclusive" or private space, to which we can even restrict access, where we can communicate with other people with common interests as diverse as belonging to the same family, a sports team, or a book club.
Setting up this kind of "sections" within the service is tremendously easy, as is managing your privacy, which should be another of the key aspects to take into account when setting up this type of training - as well as deciding which people to invite. If you are interested in knowing how to create and manage them to have a good starting base, this is what you should keep in mind.
Create a Facebook group
The first thing to do, obviously, is to create a group on Facebook. To do so, the steps to follow are the following:
- Sign in to your Facebook account as you normally would.
- Once here, go to the "Groups" icon that you will see in the upper bar of the screen. You can easily identify this as an icon with several people enclosed in a circle.
- Now we are getting closer to our goal. Once on this screen, on the left side you will see the option to "+ Create new group".
- A creation window will appear in which you will have to write the name you want to give this group.
- Now, just below the name, you must select the degree of privacy What will this group have? Among the options you can choose whether it is public (everyone can enter and see the publications made by members) or private (only the people who make it up can view its content).
- Then it is time to choose the members that will be part of this group. For that, clicking inside the bar with the text "Invite friends (optional)" will display the complete list of your friends on this social network. You can search for them one by one or put the first letters of their name to filter the information.
- Click Create. Done, you already have your group created.
After creating the group, you can upload a cover photo and add a description to customize it according to the purpose or theme of the section.
Types of groups according to privacy
Something that you must be as clear about as the people you will add is the type of privacy of the group that you are going to create. In addition to choosing if it is a public or private group, you can decide if you want it to be hidden or public on the social network. We explain the differences and how to manage this important aspect.
Public or private group?
You should keep in mind that only group administrators can choose whether the group is public or private. Although it is an option that you must decide as soon as you create it, you can modify it whenever you want:
- In the left column, click on Groups, choose the one you want and click on it to enter.
- Just below the header is a button, "More." Select it with your mouse, and in the drop-down menu, find “Edit group settings” (third option).
- Once inside, scroll with the mouse until you reach the Privacy section and click on “Change privacy settings”.
- Select Public or Private and tap on the Confirm button.
- Scroll to the bottom again and tap on “Save”.
Keep in mind that in a Public group, anyone on Facebook can see who is part of it and read/see what they post. In contrast, in a Private group , only members can see who is part of the group and what is posted in it.
Groups, by the way, have a limit of one privacy setting change every 28 days, and once a change is made, administrators have 24 hours to reverse it if they change their minds. Members always receive a notification about any changes to their privacy settings.
Another point you should know is that private groups with more than 5.000 members cannot change to become public, so if you are an administrator of one with this volume, they will not be able to make such a change.
Visible or hidden group?
It's one thing for a group to be accessible to everyone, and another for it to be "visible." This means that even if someone outside the social network can't join, they can still know about the group if it's "visible," or be unable to find it if it's hidden.
To change this characteristic of your group, the steps to follow are similar to those explained in the previous section:
- Enter Facebook and in the left column, click on Groups.
- Choose the one that interests you and click on it to enter.
- Right under the header you will see a button called “More”. Select it with your mouse and, in the drop-down menu, look for "Edit group settings" (it's the third option).
- Scroll with the mouse until you reach the "Hide group" section and choose between "Visible" and "Hidden", selecting it.
- Scroll down again and tap on the blue “Save” button.
Ready. With these steps you will have changed the status of your group to hidden or public, according to your preference.
Control misinformation and fake news
Due to the events surrounding Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the extraordinary disinformation campaigns being orchestrated around it, Facebook has opted to provide group administrators with greater resources to prevent the uncontrolled spread of such content. This allows them to block and verify, before publication, any access to news that may fall under the category of propaganda or fake news.
In this way, administrators can now use an assistant that will automate the blocking of content that has already been labeled by Facebook as false information. According to the company, this labeling is obtained after analysis by the fact-checking agencies that Facebook has worked with for years. In Spain, these agencies are EFE Verifica, AFP, Newtral, and Maldita.es.
- This information never reaches the groups They are immediately muted to prevent them from gaining visibility on any of the posts that members of that community have access to.
- Administrators can now take more drastic measures against those participants who persistently insist on sharing this type of content. That function that the groups had to silence those users, becomes a more radical one, such as suspending so that they cannot participate in the conversations, nor comment, nor react, nor access group chats, etc.