So, as part of this 23 things journey we are asked to confront the beast, the giant that squats over all social media, trying desperately to scoop new channels into its gaping maw. That’s right. Thing #8 is all about Facebook.
Confession time: I have been on Facebook a long, long time. In fact I remember when it was only available to students in the UK before it underwent its open public launch. Back when people were regularly signing up to Vampirefreaks and its ilk…
I was there. I have seen much in the interim. *shudders, staring into the middle distance*

The drama aside, the aspect of Facebook we were asked to look at more specifically was the use of groups.
I for one think that groups are fantastic. They are essentially little mini facebooks that are set up around a single topic. People can post, share media, run polls and be embarrassed by the opinions of their friends and loved ones within a more focussed context.
Great stuff, but where is the bad?
The bad side is that groups will still appear in your main feed, which doesn’t help curate it any better. Secondly, groups can get really big and really noisy, which erodes the whole “it’s great groups are so focussed” vibe.
Finally, groups allow for the creation of cliques and all the toxicity that comes with it. Where Facebook itself is a giant scrum where you ignore and listen to individuals and anything you scream out into the void is picked up by a subset of those people, in groups it is easier to hide away and delve into the realms of really toxic content.
Fan clubs like groups, unfortunately so do hate groups.

Use groups responsibly. They are an amazing tool for finding the like minded on the Enormous Book of Face but can also be a hellhole filled with scum and villainy.