I’m a member of various clubs at my church and would like to create private Facebook groups for them while at meetings, so I can have people add themselves and don’t get into any arguments about who I forgot or whether I added the right profile. You have no idea. So, can I create new secret groups on Facebook from directly within my iPhone FB app?
While there are some things that can’t be done through the Facebook app on the iPhone (and the Android version) there are a remarkable number of different use and administrative tasks that can be accomplished from the privacy of your tiny mobile screen. The trick is to find them and to ensure that you have the latest version of the app. So let’s start there: Facebook for iOS and Facebook for Android. Click as appropriate or make sure you’ve run a “search for updates” function to ensure that you do indeed have the latest and greatest.
On the iPhone, it appears that there’s a single linear column, but in fact there are three side-by-side columns and you can only generally see one at a time. So you’ll need to get used to swiping left and swiping right to get things to show up. There’s also a shortcut with the button on the top right of the main screen in the app, it looks like three tiny horizontal lines.
Tap on it, swipe, or otherwise move to your left from the main newsfeed view and that’s where we’ll start.
It’ll look like this:
If you’re comparing your screen to mine, you’ll realize I’ve scrolled down just a bit on the left column so that Groups are visible. You can also see three of the many groups I’m involved with. More importantly is the first entry shown there: “Create Group”.
Tap on it and you’ll be ready to create your new group…
I’d encourage you to give it a memorable name, like “Church Book Club” rather than something boring like a group number. Something where people will see that there’s an update and be enthused to click and find out what’s new. A description is less important if it’s a closed or secret group, in my opinion, but you might want to add one here, or you can wait until you’re at your computer to add it later (or let the group come up with it!)
Choose what level of privacy the group should have by clicking on, well, “Privacy”. Here are the three options:
A public group is one that’ll show up when non-members search for it and will show posts to even non-members. A closed group is visible to the public, but the posts are only for members. A secret group, finally, is one that doesn’t show up in a search. To join it, people will have to be invited explicitly by the group owner or another member of the group. You might want to have closed groups for something like the church book club, but if it’s a recovery group or other support group, secret is more appropriate since members most likely don’t want the public to know they’re involved.
Choose the one that’s the best fit, then tap on “Done” on the top right.
Now tap on “Select Icon” and be prepared to be a bit overwhelmed:
Lots of fun. Try to pick an icon that is visually consistent with the theme of the group. The tiny icon near the bottom that looks like an open book? Perfect for a book club. The coffee cup? Great for an informal support meeting (unless it’s coffee haters anonymous, of course 🙂
Finally, pick a new icon, tap “Done” again, and on the main group creation screen, tap “Create” on the top right.
Now you’ll get to add members to the new group (and you can add more at any time, so don’t worry if it feels tedious and you want to bail early on your iPhone). Here’s where it’ll show your friend list, but your colleagues should be able to search for their own names and have the matches show up:
Once you’ve added everyone you want to the group, tap on “Done” on the top right and you’re done and the new group is created, as I have done here:
Everyone else in the group will get a Facebook notification that they’ve been added and at any time you can go back to the group as the administrator and change its name, add pictures, new posts, photos, and, of course, add and remove members.
Nicely done, and not too difficult after all. Now about the tension over forgetting to add someone, that I can’t help you with. 🙂
But you can find me on Facebook too, with exclusive Facebook fan content and more: “Like” Ask Dave Taylor on Facebook.