Facebook Groups showing up in News Feed (Facebook Privacy Issue)

Updated 8/09/2011

After the recent transition of old Facebook groups to a new format, Facebook opened a new privacy issue by allowing group stories to show up in news feeds. Previously, Groups were controlled as a separate application, allowing you to control who could see what groups you were in and the posts you made from it. This privacy setting was slightly buried among the mass of other Facebook applications, but at least the option was there.

In the new group format, if you post a status in any of the new OPEN groups that you are in, this will show up on all your friends’ news feed. This shows up even if they do not belong to the group you are in. Certainly it can cause trouble if you are in a particular group that you don’t want others to see. On the flip side, your friends may see a multitude of group stories in which they have no interest in.

One guy I know posted to an Open Group about 8 times in one hour last night. He has 744 friends. I just politely let him know that all of those new Wall Posts he is starting on that Group wall are showing up on all 744 of his friends’ walls. Haven’t seen anything from him since.

This feature appears to be triggered to those only in OPEN groups. CORRECTION: The person must create their own status, publish a photo, or write a doc for it to show up. In addition if the person comments on their own entry, it will also show up in the news feed INCLUDING non friend’s status messages. Which means your entire friends list will see comments you made regardless of who or what posted it.

If someone adds you to an OPEN  group, it is also displayed on the news feed.

If another person makes a status in a group and you comment on it, this will not show up on the news feed.

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We suggest Facebook should allow privacy option within group posts, to make everyone or only group members see. This privacy option can be set up similar to the way how statuses are made on a regular profile.

You can join in the discussion thread here and here.