Facebook Groups become more like business-friendly Pages
Like many early Facebook users, I joined way too many groups like “Gotta have more cow bell” and “Burma Aid,” but my attention to them fell by the wayside as I’d have to constantly check for updates. So Facebook is overhauling Groups and making them more like Pages, with a constant stream of updates that can pass through your homepage. If one of your friends posts within the Group, you’ll also see that activity in the main stream.
This, of course, begs the question as to why we need both. Facebook stresses that Pages are for businesses, organizations or public figures (which may make it easier for the company to set up paid features or analytics later down the road if it chooses). But the social network still has to take care of groups, because that’s still a critical feature of the company’s mission to connect people.
So we’re left with a pretty fuzzy distinction. Along with businesses and celebrities, Pages can capture political campaigns, non-profits and bands (but they have to be created by an official representative from these organizations), while Groups are for causes, collective interests and unofficial fan groups? We’ll see how long this lasts.
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About the Author, Kim-Mai Cutler
Kim-Mai was born and raised a stone's throw from Apple headquarters in Cupertino by a devout Hewlett-Packard family. After attending UC Berkeley, Kim-Mai worked for Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires in New York, Los Angeles, London and Buenos Aires. Follow her on Twitter at @kimmaicutler, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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