Facebook now has become the largest social community in the world since it first come out ten years ago. How can it have a big leap like that just in a decade? The answer may be included in the brilliant strategies of facebook’s leaders, and especially in their knowledge of human being’s needs. Facebook fanpage so far has been their most spectacular product because of its advantage features, but developers know that facebook is not only place where people sell and buy thing, it is also a community where people share the common interests. That’s why they focus on building both facebook fanpage and facebook group. In this article, we will discuss about the most standout feature of a facebook group: the privacy level that a facebook group can provide to users.
Based on the privacy level options for creator, there are 2 types of group: open group (public group) and closed group (including closed group and secret group). People want to join group all need approval from admin or group member, depended on the group settings. The difference between these types of group is their visibility of shared contents, how their posts will appear on new feed as well as search bar.
Membership:
- Open group: Joining an open group now has not been as easy as it used to be. Depended on the group setting, people will need approval from admin or group member to join. Becoming a member will not be automatic after one-click on “Join” button as before.
- Closed group: Like open group, whoever wants to join a closed group also needs approval from admin or member. The another way is being invited by a friend who’re member of the group.
Visibility:
- Open group: Group names are visible in search results. All contents of the group are public. People can see all posts, comments in group even when they haven’t joined. When members like/comment on post, it can be appeared on their friends’s New Feed.
- Closed group: People can search name of the group but they will not be able to see any post or comment if they haven’t become member of group. Only the group’s name and member list are visible on the group’s main page. And if the group is secret, it will not appear in the search results. Even if you have the group URL, you probably will not see it. The only way you can reach the content posts on group is being added to group by another member.
Sharing:
- Open group: You can share the status update, photos, videos, and even files between members of the group, just like a facebook personal profile.
- Closed group: Closed group is also enable to share the same things as Open group. The only difference is their visibily – people who are not in the group will not be able to see shared contents.
Note: To adjust the group’s privacy, you can go to Edit Group Settings (on the right of top page, when you click on icon […] to show options), then choose the type which’s suitable with your group best.