Building an online community of like-minded people is one of the things that Facebook makes possible for its users. While Facebook groups are easy to create, making sure that only people who share the ethos of the group join becomes a difficult task.
To ensure that rights persons are added in a Group, Facebook has rolled out a new feature that allows admins to set up three questions for people requesting to join the Group.
This allows admins to screen the potential member and make sure the added member does not troll or spam the Group, TechCrunch reported on Friday.
Facebook says this feature is now rolled out to 100% of group admins globally. A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch, "Screening new membership requests requires time and legwork for admins -- particularly for groups built around focused passions or purpose. For these groups, admins typically have specific criteria they require before admitting new members. Establishing these open-ended questions enables them to more quickly review and approve member requests; in turn, people seeking communities of support or shared interest can more quickly connect with others.”
According to TechCrunch, Group Admins can find the “Ask Pending Members Questions” option in their Group’s settings menu. They then have the option to create up to 3 questions that potential members can answer in up to 250 characters each. Only admins and moderators see the answers to the questions, which are not posted to the group. Users who hit “Join” on a Group with a questionnaire will be asked to fill it out immediately, while those invited to join will get a notification linked to the form. Applicants can edit their answers until they’re reviewed.
In the past if an admin wanted to understand why someone wanted to join their group, they had to make individual contact making the task tedious. That led to either unwanted people joining groups who might abuse the Group or a led to the exclusion of genuine people wanting to support the group.
The new update gives more control to the Group admins, who can select the questions and decide whom to add in the Group -- something that can lead to productive discussions.
"One of the things that we've seen in online communities, also including offline communities, is that having an engaged and talented leader is one of the key things for making a strong community … but right now our Groups product hasn't really been built to facilitate the leaders," Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Facebook had said in February, reported TechCrunch.
Facebook is holding its first Communities Summit for Group admins in Chicago in June.
It is expected that more updates related to Groups would be rolled out that might define specific roles and permissions of moderators and admins.
With inputs from IANS