Facebook groups are a great way for like-minded people to chat. Here's how to get started
We think it’s easier to do this sitting at a computer rather than using the app, so these instructions are for on a computer. However, the steps are broadly the same in the app.
In the app, you’ll find the Groups setting by tapping on the three horizontal lines (at the top in Android, on the bottom on iOS).
On your computer, go to the Facebook site, and in the panel on the left, click Groups. In the left-hand panel on the next page, click the blue + Create Group button.
In the next panel, give your group a name and then click the arrow next to Choose privacy. You’ve got two options: Public or Private. Unless you want your group to be open to everyone on Facebook and visible on the internet, we strongly recommend choosing Private.
Unless you know that some of your friends definitely want to join your new group, we suggest you skip Add some people for now. You can add them later, and it’s considered bad Facebook manners to add people to groups without checking with them first.
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Then click the blue Create button and you’ll be in your new group. The first thing to do is to is review the settings. Underneath the picture, click the More box and choose Edit group settings. There are lots of settings – we think the following are the key ones.
Write a description of your group: this will tell people what its purpose is and you can use this to say if it’s invitation-only and what standards of behaviour you expect from members.
If you’re happy to open up your group more widely, it’s a good idea to add your location and some tags: perhaps you’re an alumni group, for example. Facebook will offer suggestions as you type your tags.
It’s a good idea to customise your website address so that members can type it in to their computer easily.
Visible is the default for Hide group: if you want it to be private, tick Hidden - otherwise everyone on Facebook can see that the group exists.
Under Membership Approval, you can choose if everyone can approve new members. That’s fine if it’s going to be a small group, but we’d recommend ticking Only admins and moderators.
We also recommend setting up to three questions under Membership requests so that you can be sure people applying to join are eligible. When you click Ask questions, you’re also offered the chance to create rules and require new members to agree to them.
Next, in the Posting permissions section, decide if you want everyone to be able to post in the group or just admins: the latter is handy if you want it to be just a channel for announcements. You can also set Post approval on so that nothing can appear in the group without admin approval.
When you’re happy with those settings, click the blue Save button, and then you can get on with other tasks such as changing the photo and adding friends as members.