Tag Archives: Facebook groups

Facebook, Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups – Not as scary as you might think

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Facebook groups can be a lot of fun, just remember that you can’t opt-out of being added to one. As we said in our last post, any of your friends can add you to a group…without your consent. As soon as you are notified of this, you can leave the group easily. Aside from that little bit of weirdness, Facebook groups serve a real purpose. Here’s everything you need to know about setting one up:

1. On the left side of your normal Facebook page, as opposed to your own timeline, look down near the bottom for the words ‘Create Group’.

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Click on Create Group.

 

2. This menu opens up once you click on Create Group:

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Here is where you decide what kind of group you want to create.

Read this menu carefully. Make sure you know what you’re getting into if the group is anything other than mainstream. The tip below has some points. Once you decide, make up a group name and then add at least one member. Facebook won’t let you create a group unless there is one member besides yourself. Then click Create.

TIP: As far as we can tell, even if the group is ‘Open’, there are no notifications of its presence on any non-group member’s timeline, even when a member makes a post. There is nothing to say that a person is in any group whatsoever. Right now, we don’t see the difference between the Open or Closed or Secret setting. We stand to be corrected but we think the setting has more to do with who can be added to a group, more than what notifications your friends see.

 

3. When you are adding members, simply start to type the friend’s first or last name and the drop-down menu will give you various names to choose from:

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We typed z and still got some names to choose from.

 

4. Choose an icon for your group. This is probably handy when you’re a member of many different groups.

Photo of Groups icons
Choose an icon next.

 

5. Now you get a chance to edit your group’s settings and choose an email address for the group.

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After the group is created, head over to ‘Edit Group Settings’

 

6. Here is where you can decide how members are added, set up a group Facebook email address and adjust posting permissions.

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Check this menu out carefully.

 

7. Why not set up a group email address? Members can then email in messages or posts from anywhere.

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Don’t leave spaces in the name and keep it short for convenience.

 

8. Now for the most important point. If  someone adds you to a group but you don’t want to be in the group, go to the group page and click on the word Notifications. This menu will pop down:

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This is how you leave the group.

 

As time goes on, we’ll see if our theory on group privacy is different from what we’ve written here. As far as we know, these settings have been in place since 2010. If you can add some information about who sees what in the news feed re: groups that your friends are in, please comment below. Right now, we can’t see how anyone else knows what groups their friends are in, even if they are Open groups. If we’re wrong, let us know.

As always, thanks for reading!

Facebook, Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups – No way to opt out of them

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You may have seen in the news lately that some gay students in Texas were outed in a Facebook group, totally without their consent. This outing was not done maliciously but, seeing as how Texas is quite backward, caused these students significant grief and pain. You might think that you have a choice when it comes to Facebook groups but, unfortunately, you don’t. Anyone who is a friend of yours on Facebook can freely add you to a group. There is no way to opt-out of this, you can’t stop any of your friends from adding you to any group they start. Here’s a perfect example of what we’re talking about:

Mark Zuckerberg quits NAMBLA (yes, you read that correctly.)

 

Seeing as how you can’t opt-out of groups, there are only two ways that you can prevent being added to Facebook groups. The first is simple, check your friend list. If you have some practical jokers there, get rid of them as friends. As we’ve shown you, they can add you to any group they want and, until you quit the group, you can’t do anything about it.

The second option is virtually impossible, but if you’ve got a lot of time, maybe you can do it. Simply put, Facebook has a maximum limit of 300 groups that any one person can join. Therefore, if you start 300 groups and add yourself to them, no one will be able to add you to any group they start. Yes, it is a waste of time, for sure.

Over the next few posts, we’re going to tell you everything you need to know about Facebook groups. Here’s a shot of the group privacy menu:

Photo of group privacy policies
Open, closed or secret. You decide.

 

Stay tuned. We’ll show you everything you need to know about groups…except how to opt-out. You can’t. Remember that.

Thanks for reading!