Latest Facebook Group Features – August + September 2021

Hey there! 👋🏻

Welcome to our latest edition of the Facebook group features sneak peek. 

In case you missed the previous, i.e. June and July edition, check it out now and learn about some amazing Fb group features and updates.👇🏻

New Facebook group features update – June & July 2021

This time it seems like Facebook has focused predominantly on increasing group engagement and in making admins’ lives easier.

You’ll understand as you read ahead!

In this article, you’ll know about:

💡 5 features that give more power to admins and moderators

💡 3 features that help increase your Facebook group engagement

💡 3 unique but super useful features that’d come handy

💡 2 feature that helps admins acknowledge members efforts

More power to Admins and Moderators 💪🏻

1. Navigation made easy under ‘To Review’

In an effort to make things simple for admins and moderators, Facebook has improved navigation between different queues.

As you can see in the snapshot above, all the options are listed at the top besides each other. Which means, you don’t have to go back each time you want to select a different queue.

2. Get your group’s weekly summary 

Facebook now notifies you of the things that were up in your community in the last seven days!

As a part of the weekly summary, here’s what you get – total number of members who joined the community along with their profiles, total new posts, post of the week i.e. the post that got the maximum engagement along with the member’s name, and the top trending hashtags.

3. New update in the Moderation Summary 

As per Facebook’s latest update in the moderation summary, admins can know in a glance about all those who have / haven’t answered the membership questions.

This makes things less complicated for admins as they can quickly take an action looking at the new button.

We personally don’t allow those people to join the group who have not answered all the membership questions. This makes sure that only those who are genuinely interested to be a part of the group, join it.

4. Member contribution insights in member’s group profiles 

We all know how we are taken to members’ group profiles when we click on their respective names in the group.

To make their profiles more rich, Facebook has introduced insights for their contributions in the group, as you can see below.

You get to know – how many posts, comments, and reactions a member did in the community along with the total number of posts that were approved/ declined by the admin team, and also if there are any active restrictions on the member.

Isn’t it incredibly useful?

5. Welcome new members via mobile 

It’s a huge one, honestly! And also one of the most-awaited features.

Open the Facebook app, go to your group, and head over to the ‘create a post’ section.

You’ll get the option ‘Welcome post’. Click on it and you’ll be able to easily welcome new members.

Keep your group members active and engaged 👥

1. Ability to create different Rooms 

Yes, you read that right!

Facebook has introduced rooms in communities, which was earlier limited to their Messenger service.

I personally feel it’s a great way to create different cohorts within the community, and connect with members personally.

For instance, there’s this welcome room that Facebook offers.

When you hit on the ‘Create’ button, all members who joined the group in the last two weeks will automatically become a part of this room.

As an admin, you can go all out with your team, and get in touch with new members personally. Get to know them – who they are, what they do, and more.

Tell them all about your community, how you started, and what the most discussed topics are. Most importantly, understand from the new joiners what they are seeking from the community.

You can use this opportunity to get some super valuable insights, and make some changes in your community.

If you are someone who came across this feature, but skipped wondering how to get started, this is your chance!

When you connect with members on such a level, they automatically feel they belong to the tribe, and hence, don’t shy away from asking their queries or participating in group discussions.

Facebook rolled out this ‘Create new chat’ feature in a large number of groups last month, including ours. However, we don’t have it currently.

This feature can be used to create chat groups (similar to the groups we create on WhatsApp) to connect with admins, moderators, and your group members.

It’s available to both group admins and moderators.

How does it work?

You can easily create a chat group by clicking on the create button given next to individual chat options. When you do, a chat group will be automatically created, and you can edit its name, description as you like.

When you create a general chat group to connect with group members, they will be notified about it (just like they are notified of a post done by the admin in the group), and a post will be created automatically in the group.

You can share the chat anytime with your group members, however you need to share it individually.

Advantages of this feature

a. I personally feel the admin and moderator chat group is extremely helpful as you don’t need to switch to a different app to connect with your team members. Whatever the update/issue is, you can just put that in the group.

b. General chat groups with members seem good as you can broadcast a message easily.

c. Welcome chat groups let you connect with new members on a more personal level, gel with them, and make them feel comfortable.

d. This can work out amazingly well for groups with a few hundred/thousand members

Shortcomings of this feature

a. It can be difficult to use the chat groups in large-sized communities, i.e. the ones with tens of thousands of members. Simply because it can be difficult to manage any chat with a large number of people.

2. Most trending hashtags below posts 

When members post anything in the community with relevant hashtags, Facebook tells others about the most trending hashtags in the community like it’s shown in the image below.

It tells the total number of group members that are talking about that hashtag, and in a way encourages other members to join. When members see others talking about or using a particular hashtag, they are inclined to share.

3. Know when a person posts for the first time in the group 

So now, every time a new member posts for the first time in the community, here’s how Facebook reveals it.

In the words of Rinku Shah, admin of Fitness2Flash – “This is a great way for the group members/admins to encourage posting – when it’s highlighted as the first time posting everyone can comment and motivate the person to continue doing so.”

And, I second that!

It’s indeed a useful feature. When members see someone has posted for the first time, they are more likely to respond to them and help out. And when the post gets a good response, the newbie is motivated to continue posting in the future.

Unique but super useful features🥳

1. Share option added to comments 

I was a bit surprised when I first heard about this feature, and was slightly skeptical as to how it would help.

But, there are a few instances when this share option on comments feature shall come handy.

1. When an admin or moderator can’t decide on what action to take on a particular comment, he/she can easily share the link with others.
2. When a comment might get missed and it has an important question that’s gone unanswered, admins can easily share it with their moderators. They are then taken to that member directly and can help them out.
3. When members share incredibly valuable information in the community in the comments section, instead of taking screenshots to update others, one can share the link of the comment directly.

2. Predictions while commenting 

Yes, you got that right!

Facebook is now all-set to complete your sentences while you comment on posts. Like this

It has introduced this auto-suggestion feature that will surely come handy.

As of now, it’s only available on mobile. Hopefully, the social media giant will roll it out soon on the desktop version.

3. Share group posts on WhatsApp in a click 

If you often find yourself taking screenshots of relatable / valuable group posts to share with others, then Facebook just got you covered.

They have introduced a new ‘Send in WhatsApp’ feature that allows you to share post links over WhatsApp with your friends and acquaintances.

All those who are a part of the group will be taken to that group post, else they’ll have to request to join (in case of a private group) to be able to view the post.

Acknowledge group members’ efforts🚀

1. The all-new Group Ambassador badge 

The Group Ambassador badge is yet another addition to the existing list of awesome badges available in Facebook groups.

It will certainly help admins recognize members for their coveted actions.

This badge recognizes members who often share the group with their friends or invite them, and encourage them to be a part.

It’s available for all group types, so if you don’t see it yet in your group, keep a check as it might be available sooner or later.

The interesting part is that members can choose to / not to display this badge beside their names on group posts, comments, and group profiles.

In Monique Renee’s (Admin of Sassy Network) words, “It’s easily identifiable, super important to thank them, and great for others to see! Also, I hope this encourages members to share or invite content/groups when they feel fit as they can now see what their community peers do naturally.”

To know all about Facebook group badges that exist, refer to this article👇🏻

The complete guide to Facebook group badges (Updated 2021)

2. Award member comments 

To help admins acknowledge members’ meaningful and valuable comments, Facebook has introduced ‘Community Awards’.

You can see this new feature under post comments, next to the like and reply buttons.

You can choose an award depending on whether a particular comment is insightful, uplifting, informative, fun, relevant, or spreads positive vibes.

Amazing, right!

You can give 3 awards per week, so choose wisely!

These awards will surely make members feel appreciated, as it happens when one receives an award IRL.

Speaking of, it’ll also kick member participation and more and more members would be willing to take part in group discussions.

I personally loved this feature and am eagerly waiting for it to roll out in our community.

That’s all with the new Facebook group features for August and September 2021.🙌🏻

Don’t stress out if you don’t see any of these features in your group. Facebook will sooner or later roll it out for your community.

Till then, make the most of what you have.

And in case you have any queries or would like to seek suggestions from other admins, join our community – Growth and Monetisation for Facebook Group Admins, and post them in there.🙂

Simran Grover

Creating value in the lives of others with my content, little by little.✨

Working at Convosight, I do more than just wrangle commas. I’m passionate about innovating new ways to create super valuable and actionable content about Communities and Community Marketing at large, and sharing it with the right audience.
I also happen to manage a global community of power admins on Facebook, and that’s where most of my learnings come from.

Do check out my latest blogs and feel free to share them! 💛