Meta launches new features for Facebook Groups to improve communication between members, strengthen communities, and give admins more ways to customize the look and feel.

In addition, the company shares its vision for the future of communities on Facebook, which brings features from Groups and Pages together in one place.

Here’s an overview of everything that was announced at the recent Facebook Communities Summit.

More Options For Facebook Group Admins

Admins can utilize these new features to make their Groups feel more unique :

• Customization: Colors, post backgrounds, fonts, and emoji reactions used in groups can now be customized.
• Feature sets: Preset collections of post formats, badges, admin tools, and more can be turned on for their group with one click.
• Preferred formats: Select formats you want members to use when they post in your group.
• Greeting message: Create a unique message that all new members will see when they join a group.

Screenshot from about.fb.com/news, November 2021.

Stronger Connections For Members

Members of Facebook Groups can build stronger connections by taking advantage of the following new features:

• Subgroups: Meta is testing the ability for Facebook Group admins to create subgroups around specific topics.
• Community Chats: Communicate in real-time with other group members through Facebook or Messenger.
• Recurring Events: Set up regular events for member to get together either online or in person.
• Community Awards: Give virtual awards to other members to recognize valuable contributions.

Screenshot from about.fb.com/news, November 2021.

New Ways To Manage Communities

New tools will make it easier for admins to manage their groups:

• Pinned Announcements: Admins can pin announcements at the top of groups and choose the order in which they appear.
• Personalized Suggestions: Admin Assist will now offer suggestions on criteria to add, and more info on why content is declined.
• Internal Chats: Admins can now create create group chats exclusively for themselves and other moderators.

Screenshot from about.fb.com/news, November 2021.

Monetization & Fundraisers

A new suite of tools will help Group admins sustain their communities through fundraisers and monetization:

• Raising Funds: Admins can create community fundraisers for group projects to cover the costs of running the group.
• Selling Merchandise: Sell merchandise you’ve created by setting up a shop within your group.
• Paid Memberships: Create paid subgroups that members can subscribe to for a fee.

Screenshot from about.fb.com/news, November 2021.

Bringing Together Groups & Pages

Facebook is introducing a new experience that brings elements of Pages and Groups together in one place.

This will allow Group admins to use an official voice when interacting with their community.

Currently, Admins post to a Facebook Group it shows that it’s published by the individual user behind the account.

When this new experience rolls out, posts from Admins will show up as official announcements posted by the group. Just like how a post from a Facebook Page shows that it’s published by the Page.

Admins of Facebook Pages will have the option to build their community in a single space if they prefer not to create a separate group. When this change rolls out, Page admins can utilize moderation tools accessible to Group admins.

This new experience will be tested over the next year before it’s available to everyone.

Source: Meta Newsroom

Featured Image: AlesiaKan/Shutterstock