Facebook’s announced a major change to groups, with admins now able to switch private groups to public if they choose, helping to improve discovery and awareness, but also reducing the privacy and protection of these communities.
Which obviously also comes with a range of additional considerations, and the Facebook team has sought to address the various concerns within this process.
First off, as explained by Facebook, group admins can now make their private groups public, “making it easier for people to discover and join conversations that matter to them.”
As per Facebook:
“This change can be made directly from the group’s settings page on Facebook. Converting to public means the group’s new content will be visible to everyone, so before making any changes, consider what’s best for your community and seek feedback from fellow admins, moderators, and members. Once you have converted your group, keep members informed by sharing a post about the update.”
All group admins will be made aware of any change in privacy settings as they happen, and the group will have three days to consider the change before it's enacted.
The process itself is simple enough, but no doubt at least some group members will have a level of trepidation about their previously private discussions being made available in the app.
Though that’s not quite how this will work.
According to Facebook, all content posted when the group was private will remain private, and will only be accessible to people who were members of the group before it became public (as well as admins and moderators).
Facebook also notes that member lists will remain protected, even after a group goes public, but any new content added after the switch will then be freely viewable in the app.
“This has always been the case for public groups, allowing you to reach a broader audience and connect with new people beyond the original group.”
So Facebook has essentially worked out a system to keep past posts private, while enabling this switch, which will give group admins more options to help promote and grow their communities in the app, without compromising past trust.
I mean, it seems like only a matter of time before something here breaks, and at least some of those private posts will become public. But taking Facebook at its word, it seems to have developed a good solution to facilitate more opportunities for group admins.
Facebook says that all group members will be notified when a group changes from private to public, via various in-app alerts and notifications.
“When posting or commenting for the first time in a converted public group, you’ll see a reminder that your post or comment will be public, helping you share with confidence.”
You’ll also now be able to see a globe icon when posting in a public group, which means that your content will be visible to anyone, while groups can also be made private again if the change doesn’t go well.
It’s a handy option to have, and while most groups will likely stick with their existing settings, some may be looking to expand and grow, and this will enable them to do so through in-app discovery.
Though it may also lead to more disputes, and disagreements about the direction of each group. I don’t envy Facebook’s team for having to deal with random complaints on this front, but in theory at least, this does seem like a valuable update.
