Meta has announced multiple new features and tools for Facebook Groups. During its sixth annual Facebook Communities Summit on Thursday, the company introduced new Stories sharing tools, Reels in Groups, updates to Group profiles, and more.
Groups enable Facebook users to connect with people with shared interests. These are usually communities of people discussing or sharing information about a particular topic. According to Meta, most Facebook users are members of at least 15 active Groups, while the platform sees more than 100 million new Group joins every day. This makes Groups an integral feature on Facebook. The newly announced features give users “more ways to connect over shared interests” on the app.
For starters, Facebook is adding Reels to Groups. Members, including admins, will now be able to express themselves in the community through creative and immersive videos. They can make videos related to the Group’s topic and share them with fellow members. Facebook lets users add audio, text overlay, and filters to their videos before sharing. Meta is also letting Group members share a public Facebook event for their community to their Instagram story. This enables greater reach across Meta platforms.
Additionally, the company is testing updates to Group profiles. It will allow you to customize personal information that you want to share with other Group members. You can make changes from the About Me section. And if you’re open to messages, you can indicate that as well. Meta says these features will enable Group members to learn more about one another, helping foster community relationships and connectivity between like-minded people.
Facebook is testing new tools for admins to connect through Groups
Facebook is also testing view-only chats for Groups. These chat channels allow admins and moderators to send one-way communications to members. They can notifications about upcoming events or share important group information. Members won’t be able to respond in these chats, keeping the thread clean. This will ensure that important messages aren’t lost in casual conversations. Admin-only chat, meanwhile, allows admins and moderators to communicate within themselves. Groups already have community chats.
Community Contribution is another new tool for Group admins on Facebook. It allows them to recognize top-contributing members in their Groups. Those members will earn points and badges to feature on their Group profiles. This will enable admins to select more active and contributing members for new Group roles.
Admin Assist, meanwhile, lets admins automate moderation in their Groups. They can set certain criteria to automatically take action. For example, if a post has been found to contain false information (before or after publishing), it will be automatically moved to the pending section so admins can manually review it later. Admins will get a daily summary of automated actions through Daily Digest.
Meta is also testing an extension within Flagged by Facebook. Admins of certain Groups will be able to use additional context to allow some content flagged as bullying and harassment by Facebook. Lastly, the company announced the selected participants for the 2022 Community Accelerator Program at yesterday’s Facebook Communities Summit. You can find a list of the participants here. Meta will provide the admins of these Groups with four months of training, mentorship, and funding to help them deepen their community’s impact.
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