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Facebook pauses recommendations of political and social issues groups
The company quietly stopped doing so ahead of the presidential election.
Facebook will start surfacing public group posts in News Feeds
Admins will have more ways to manage conversations and monetize groups.
Facebook's latest grab bag of updates is all about 'community'
Amid a slew of executive departures, circulated misinformation and efforts to unify multiple chat platforms, Facebook is updating tools that people still use on its core site. At the Facebook Communities Summit in Menlo Park today, the company introduced a slew of new features and expanded the rollout of some tools in testing that are meant to help Group and Page admins better engage their members.
Stories come to all Facebook Groups
Facebook announced today that it is bringing Stories to all Groups. The feature allows members of Groups on the platform to contribute to a collaborative story and react to content from other members. Group Stories were first introduced on Facebook in a limited capacity last year.
Facebook expands Watch Party to Pages and profiles
Earlier this year, Facebook launched Watch Party, a way for members of Facebook Groups to watch videos together, and since then, more than 12 million Watch Parties have been hosted on the platform. Now, Facebook is bringing them to Pages and profiles. The company said in July that it was exploring the idea of expanding Watch Party beyond just Groups, and it has been testing the video-watching feature with a handful of Pages, including those managed by WWE and BuzzFeed. It added that Watch Parties have been rolling out to individuals' profiles as well and the feature is now available globally as of today.
Facebook shut down a spam network in Brazil
Facebook's crackdown on misleading content continues, this time in Brazil. The social network gave the boot to 68 pages and 43 accounts -- all linked to a single marketing group -- for violating the company's policies on misrepresentation and spam.
Argentina residents use Facebook 'barter clubs' to make ends meet
Social networks can provide valuable services to the less fortunate, but sometimes they may be as much symptoms of problems as they are solutions. Reuters has reported that Argentina's poor are increasingly turning to Facebook-based "barter clubs" to trade goods in return for essentials they couldn't otherwise afford in a country grappling with high rates of inflation and unemployment. The groups had popped up in conventional forms in previous difficult years, but Facebook's rapid growth has made it the go-to option. This isn't a small-scale Craigslist-like exchange, we'd add -- there are frequently "hundreds" of people gathering at any given time.
Facebook is testing paid monthly subscriptions for Groups
Facebook is testing Group subscriptions, which will allow Group admins to charge for exclusive content. Only a few will have access to the feature as of now, but they'll be able to set up a separate, subscriber-only Group and charge members a monthly fee for access. "We know that admins invest their time and energy to maintain their groups, and some have told us that they would like tools to help them continue to invest in their community and offer more to members," Alex Deve, Facebook's product director of Groups, said in a post today. "Today, we're piloting subscriptions with a small number of groups to continue to support group admins who lead these communities."
Facebook kills its standalone Groups app
Facebook seems to be clearing out some of its app clutter. It just ended support for its high school-geared app Lifestage earlier this week and today it announced that its standalone Facebook Groups app will be discontinued as well.
Facebook Pages can now build their own communities
Today, Facebook is rolling out a new feature called "Groups for Pages," which will let artists, brands, businesses and newspapers create their own fan clubs. The company says the idea stems from two reporters at The Washington Post who started a Facebook group called PostThis, where they interact with some of "the most avid fans" of the paper on a daily basis. Facebook says right now there are more than 70 million Pages on its platform, so this going to be great for many users who want to let their loyal supporters feel more connected to them.
Facebook is testing a 'discover' feature for Groups
Groups on Facebook have evolved from being things you joined because they had dumb names and you were in college, to being legitimately useful ways to find new information. As a reflection of that, The Social Network is apparently testing a new feature on the iOS and Android apps, International Business Times writes, dubbed "Discover." That also lets you peruse public and private groups and see which friends are in local groups, according to Mashable.
Facebook is being used to sell weapons in the Middle East
Facebook's social network reaches billions of people around the world, but its tools aren't always used with the best intentions. The New York Times reports that Facebook Groups are being used to sell weapons in the Middle East. The sales violate Facebook's policy for selling goods on the site of course, but that's not stopping folks in Libya, Syria, Iraq and other countries from posting weapons commonly used by terrorists and militants for sale.
Dropbox teams up with Facebook to let folks share stuff within Groups
You never really know what to expect when two of the bigger names in tech join forces and announce something fresh. In some cases you may see an end result of things like that RAZR i, but when Dropbox and Facebook are involved, you can surely bet it has to do with sharing something with your pals -- and such is the case today. Dropbox announced earlier that it's now allowing folks to share files with their friends inside Facebook Groups, giving users the ability to instantly post anything from notes to videos with a couple of simple clicks. Of course, those on the other side will be able to like what you share, leave comments, as well as be updated automatically as soon as an edit has been made. At the moment, not everyone's seeing the changes just yet, though Dropbox has said it shouldn't be too long before most people can spot the new feature.
Facebook launches 'groups for schools,' keeps enrollment tight
It's no secret that Facebook encourages users to spend as much time as possible on the site, doing things like sharing photos, playing games, chatting, and of course, sharing status updates. Now, the company is giving students a reason to visit that's actually related to academics. 'Groups for schools' creates a virtual venue for collegiate collaboration, letting students and faculty members share un-copyrighted files within the groups created for their sports teams, clubs and even individual classes. There is a file limit of 25MB in play, so consider those dreams of sharing videos and zipped up apps crushed -- you'll also need to provide a .edu address that matches the school before Facebook grants you admission. At first, online cliques will be limited to colleges in the US, though global institutions will eventually be permitted to join in on the fun as well. In the meantime, who knows -- perhaps Dropbox will also launch some kind of super-secret, exclusive club in the near future.
Facebook app for Windows Phone gets upgraded, redesigned
Here's some news to brighten up your day: the Facebook client for Windows Phone has just been updated to version 2.3, bringing with it a host of enhanced features. Precise details remain a bit fuzzy at the moment, though in an announcement on its Facebook page, the app maker confirmed that the refresh will bring a redesigned profile and panoramic design, along with "news feed performance improvements," including support for filters. Other "focus areas" include support for Facebook Groups, pages and banner images, which can now be changed directly from a user's handset. The update is supposed to be available today, though at the time of this writing, it has yet to appear on the Marketplace. Once it hits, you'll be able to grab it from the coverage link below.
