The social media giant, Facebook has been making efforts to address a surge in social turmoil. Previously, the company stated that it would review its content policies. Now, the company’s efforts will extend beyond reviewing the content policies. Facebook has now issued recommendations for group admins and moderators.
The company published these new recommendations on Friday to help group operators facilitate discussions about ‘race and social issues,’ as the #BlackLivesMatter protests currently gripping the United States and several other countries. These new recommendations seem to be logical, however, it is evident that Facebook has built these recommendations in direct response to conversations becoming increasingly political among the approaching United States presidential election and anti-racist activism.
In the new recommendations, the social media behemoth suggested that individuals from ‘impacted communities’ should be made operators (administrators and moderators) of groups. The company also suggests that group operators should review the rules of the groups and outline the rules for group members. Group operators should outline the rules even if it means to forbid certain topics or requiring approval of posts from group operators.
Facebook also wants that group operators should be open to member input. But, group leaders may also have to admit that the nature of the group may change over time, or even prompt members to create another Facebook group. A lot of group operators have been struggling to moderate conversations about injustice in the United States and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. Many group leaders also started to delete posts they considered political, and this prompted people to leave a group and create splinter groups.
Facebook now recommends that group leaders should create a list of topics that are not allowed in the group. The social media network recommends group operators to listen to members of their groups and be open to change. This new decision made by the company is an acknowledgment that tensions in Facebook Groups have increased. The tensions in groups have grown following the death of George Floyd and the protests resulting due to his death. Group operators are currently looking for answers and Facebook’s new recommendations will help group operators to address discussions related to race and inequality. The social media platform wrote in a post that Facebook knows these discussions are hard and reflect current discrepancies in our society. However, they are important and the company hopes that Facebook will be able to continue to help people facilitate ongoing conversations as well as learning.
These new recommendations are further recognition that Facebook users want the company to spend lesser time on the sidelines - people want to know that Facebook is responsive to changing circumstances.
Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Read next: Facebook Begins To Label Media Pages That Are Controlled By Their Government
The company published these new recommendations on Friday to help group operators facilitate discussions about ‘race and social issues,’ as the #BlackLivesMatter protests currently gripping the United States and several other countries. These new recommendations seem to be logical, however, it is evident that Facebook has built these recommendations in direct response to conversations becoming increasingly political among the approaching United States presidential election and anti-racist activism.
In the new recommendations, the social media behemoth suggested that individuals from ‘impacted communities’ should be made operators (administrators and moderators) of groups. The company also suggests that group operators should review the rules of the groups and outline the rules for group members. Group operators should outline the rules even if it means to forbid certain topics or requiring approval of posts from group operators.
Facebook also wants that group operators should be open to member input. But, group leaders may also have to admit that the nature of the group may change over time, or even prompt members to create another Facebook group. A lot of group operators have been struggling to moderate conversations about injustice in the United States and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. Many group leaders also started to delete posts they considered political, and this prompted people to leave a group and create splinter groups.
Facebook now recommends that group leaders should create a list of topics that are not allowed in the group. The social media network recommends group operators to listen to members of their groups and be open to change. This new decision made by the company is an acknowledgment that tensions in Facebook Groups have increased. The tensions in groups have grown following the death of George Floyd and the protests resulting due to his death. Group operators are currently looking for answers and Facebook’s new recommendations will help group operators to address discussions related to race and inequality. The social media platform wrote in a post that Facebook knows these discussions are hard and reflect current discrepancies in our society. However, they are important and the company hopes that Facebook will be able to continue to help people facilitate ongoing conversations as well as learning.
These new recommendations are further recognition that Facebook users want the company to spend lesser time on the sidelines - people want to know that Facebook is responsive to changing circumstances.
Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Read next: Facebook Begins To Label Media Pages That Are Controlled By Their Government
