Facebook is introducing a simplified privacy model for groups, reducing the number of settings to just two.
Going forward, Facebook groups can either be set to “private” or “public.”
The company says this change is being made for the sake of clarity:
“We’re making this change because we’ve heard from people that they want more clarity about the privacy settings for their groups. Having two privacy settings — public and private — will help make it clearer about who can find the group and see the members and posts that are part of it.”
When a group is set to “public” anyone can view the members of the group and see all published content. When a group is set to “private” only group members can see who is in the group and what they’re posting.
In addition to these privacy settings, group admins will have control over how their group is found. Admins can specify whether or not the group can be found in search and other places on Facebook.
Admins of existing groups need to be aware of these changes:
- A group that was formerly “secret” will now be “private” and “hidden.”
- A group that was formerly “closed” will now be “private” and “visible.”
- Groups that are “public” will remain “public” and “visible.”
The new controls can be found in the group’s settings. Facebook’s previous restrictions on changing group settings still apply.
Groups are limited to one privacy setting change every 28 days, but admins can change the setting back within 24 hours if they want to.
