Pages, Groups on Facebook

The group on Facebook has undergone some changes over the past few years.

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Before, all groups a user was a member of would appear on their own personal page. So, if you were in a group called “New York Giant Football Fans” everyone who could see your page would know this about you. 

Now, however, those types of open forums are known as pages, created by companies, celebrities, and brands to engage with their audience and post interesting content. Only administrators of pages can post to the account, while those who like the page can comment on any posts and pictures.

Your personal profile is what you use to engage with other uses on pages and groups. Whenever you post something, you will be posting with the name and photo of your profile. You can connect with friends, post on others people walls, comment, and receive post from friends as well with your profile.

Privacy of Pages and Groups

The main difference between the page and the group is that  page is always public. If you comment or like a page, all of your information will be available to anyone on Facebook who looks at that page.So, if someone were to go on to the “NFL on CBS” Facebook page, they could see anyone who was commenting on a photo or discussing an article. 

This could cause some privacy concerns, especially if you do not have a solid understanding of how to protect your personal profile.

 

Types of Groups ; 

public group.  Anyone can see the group, its members and theit posts.

closed group, Anyone can find the group and  see who is in it. only members can see the posts.

secret group, only members can find the group and see the posts.

A group, however, can be more private than a page, as the creator of the group has the option to make it closed. When a group is closed, only those who have been invited into a group can see the content and information shared within. 

A group can be created by anyone with a Facebook profile, (as opposed to pages which have some limitations). An example of a group might be team members who are working on a project together and want to communicate with one another more efficiently.

By creating a group, the team is given a private forum to share ideas on the project and post updates, just as on a page. Still, all information is shared only with those within the group once the group is made closed. Others will still be able to see that the group exists and who are members, but they will not be able to see any posts or information within the closed group unless they are invited. only the creator of the group and anyone they make an admin has the power to invite someone to a group.

Even more private than the closed group is the secret group. This type of group is exactly what you would expect it to be...secret. Nobody on Facebook can see a secret group other than those in the group. This group will not appear anywhere on your profile, and only those within the group can see who the members are and what is posted. These groups could be used if you are planning an event that you do not want somebody to know about, or if you just want a secure platform to talk with friends.

The third privacy setting for a group is public, meaning that anyone can see who is in the group and what has been posted. Still, only members of the group have the ability to post within it.

Networks of Pages and Groups

The group differs from a page in that it works based on smaller networks than the entire Facebook network. You can limit your group to the network for your college, high school, or company, as well as make it a group for members of any network. Also, while a page can accumulate as many likes as possible, a group must be kept the 250 members or lower.

Once inside the group, Facebook works only slightly different than your profile. A group does not use timeline, rather displaying posts in direct chronological order, similar to the pre-Timeline manner. Also, members of the group have knowledge to who has seen the post, which is a unique feature for group accounts. So, if you post a new idea for your group’s project, you can see who has viewed your post. Groups can still be used to create events, upload pictures, and share files.

Another difference between joining a group and liking a page is the amount of notifications that you receive. When in a group, you will receive a notification every time someone posts, comments, or likes. With a page, however, you will only be notified when someone likes your comment or tags you in a comment.

Features of Pages Not in Groups

A unique feature only offered in pages is Page Insights, which allows the administrator of the page to see what activity the page has been receiving during a period of time. An example of this type of information is a graphical representation of the activity.

This is just one of the many ways Facebook pages allow you to monitor the audience and how well your product or message is being received by your audience. These analytics are not offered, or needed, in groups, as the group is meant to communicate with a small, select number of people, rather than a wide-scale audience