14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook is constantly tweaking and redesigning parts of the site it's not satisfied with and the process doesn't look like it's going to reach a stable state anytime soon. After a number of new features over the summer, Facebook Lite and some recent changes to the site, Facebook has now completely redesigned Groups allowing users to keep up with the activity in them more easily.
Groups had become somewhat isolated and felt a little ignored as Facebook was focusing its attention on Pages, not surprisingly as they hold a lot more commercial value. “We have received feedback from many of you saying that you want to know more about what is going on within your Facebook Groups,” Knot Pipatsrisawat, a software engineering intern at Facebook, wrote. Users wanted a way of staying up to date without having to visit the group by having the activity updated in their News Feed.
“Starting today, we're transforming Groups to make it easier for you to communicate with other members and create a smoother experience as you browse through Facebook,” he added. The new Groups pages have been completely redesigned to get them in line with the other features on the site. Groups now feature their own Wall where the members' activity is being updated. This makes it easier to have an overview of the Group but it's different from the Pages Wall as it focuses on the activity from your friends.
“Second, group activities, which previously only appeared in the group, will now be delivered to your News Feed,” he also said. This latest change will have the biggest impact on the way users interact with the Groups. By having a constant stream of updates users will be more engaged and more involved with the activity by allowing them to comment from their News Feed for example.
The changes do make Groups and Pages seem very similar and there may be those who believe they are now redundant; however, Facebook wants to make it clear that there is a significant distinction between the two despite the similarities and that Pages are still much better suited for brands or artists to get their message across, while Groups are designed to help users collaborate.