Is your Facebook newsfeed giving you a migraine?

Can’t we just enjoy Facebook groups again? Girl, you know it. But let’s backtrack for a second. I need to tell you what’s going on and why your newsfeed may be the cause of your migraines right now. Hollaback to June of 2017, Facebook changed it’s mission to focus more on community building. That’s great, right? Right, but no one mentioned that our newsfeeds would get jacked in the process.  In October of 2017, we saw massive changes in how Facebook groups play into the newsfeed and algorithm.

These changes can be good and bad for your business. You have an opportunity to streamline what you see and how you interact with your group members. If you want to be able to enjoy Facebook groups, though, you have to be intentional and get your settings in gear before good things start happening. Right now, you’re probably getting a serious carpal tunnel flare-up from all the scrolling you have to do just get group chatter out of the way and find actual posts from your friends and family. Right? I know it’s a huge pain, but there’s good news. We can give this a little thought and make your life easier. You can enjoy Facebook groups again, starting now.

What will it take for you to enjoy Facebook groups?

I promise it’s possible, but we need a little Q&A to figure it out.  Ask yourself:

how I want to interact with my Facebook groups?

Consider your own groups; your friends’ groups; and other community groups you’re part of. Some may be topical, some may be educational, some may be for sales, deals, and community interaction. No matter the purpose, you can be in control {pretty much} of what and how often you see group interactions come across your feed.

Identify the type of group:

• Resource…

Your resource groups may be groups that focus on topics like “Lightroom Troubleshooting” or “How to XYZ with an Instant Pot.” These are groups that are helpful when you need them, but you don’t need to see 24/7 chatter from group members coming across your feed.

• Support…

These groups usually belong to friends and family members who run online businesses that you want to support. You want the opportunity to love on your friends and fam via their online groups, but also…seeing every post in your feed may be overwhelming.

• Lifeline…

These are the groups that you basically live in. Those groups where online acquaintances have turned into your long lost bffs and a place where you check in every day {errrm, or hour maybe?}. You want to see these posts because the FOMO is for real up in there.

Now, let’s pivot.

Once you identify the type of group you’re working with, you can adjust your settings accordingly. This will allow you to enjoy Facebook groups and cut way down on time wasted.

As we all know, engagement is the #1 player when it comes to social media. If you want to make sure you’re seeing posts from a particular group, you need to engage, girl! Be sure to comment, like posts, and ask questions if you want to stay up on what’s going on. You’ll also want to be a group contributor. For one of my groups, I go in three times a week and check-up on everyone. If you’re hesitant to comment and engage because of the avalanche of post notifications that come after – just go ahead and comment, then turn notifications off for that post. You don’t always want to do this, but it’s a good way to interact/engage without being overwhelmed.

• Facebook Group Notification Settings

Now, if you change notifications {those friendly read dots that tell you how much you missed while you were driving}, you can start to enjoy Facebook groups again. When you change your settings, you retain {mostly} control of your newsfeed. You can change your group settings to see: all posts; posts only from your friends; highlights or turn posts off altogether. Choosing the “see friends posts” option is a great way to support your friends’ MLM group and let her know you’re there for her and she’s loved!

• Facebook Group Follow Settings

You can also go edit your follow settings. Follow Settings allow you to join, unfollow, or leave a group. This feature allows you to stay in the group, but you won’t have to be loaded down with posts from this group clogging up your feed. Ahhhh, now that’s the way to enjoy Facebook groups again.

• Facebook Group Settings in Your Newsfeed

Now, let’s say you’ve gone in and changed all your notifications and follow settings…. but Facebook is still showing you a specific group one too many times a day.  Or, perhaps there’s one person who tends to comment all day every day and you just don’t want to see their posts anymore.  Well, the good news is that you can control those things too!  When you see a post pop-up in your newsfeed, simply “snooze” posts for a little while or hide specific participants in your newsfeed altogether.

Newsflash.  This also works for friends who post continually in your newsfeed.  You can unfollow or snooze them too.  You’re welcome.

Here’s what I encourage you to do…

Ask yourself again, how do I want to interact with this group? Go back and edit your settings accordingly. The most important thing you can do in regard to all of your groups is to be intentional. It does you no good to be inactive or to be part of a million groups for no reason.  And, frankly, you’re hurting the overall quality of Facebook groups when you’re an inactive member.  Facebook group admins would much rather you part ways than never interact at all.  Trust me!  By leaving a group in which you never participate, you’re actually helping the group in ways you can’t even image {thanks, algorithm}!

Help others enjoy Facebook groups, too!

All of this being said, always remember to use your experience. If you’re being driven crazy by the number of groups in your feed, chances are your clients are also. Educate your clients on how to interact with their notifications and follow settings to ensure that people don’t leave your group, but get the most out of the content you’re providing.  My goodness, this post was written to be shared!  So use those little hot pink buttons down below and share like crazy!

Is your headache gone now?

I hope so! I want to give you more helpful social media tips and free access to my Sparkle Society group. Sparkle Society is an online community of creative entrepreneurs working together to shine online. Go get this social media freebie right now to keep your momentum going online and get more out of your groups and social channels.