Psst. It’s time we let you in on a little secret. Facebook Groups are gaining in popularity, and not just among users. Changes made this year to the almighty news feed algorithm have given priority to groups over pages, prompting brands to shift their strategy to include groups.
Groups are hubs of engagement. More than 1.4 billion of Facebook’s 2.2 billion monthly active users check groups every month. But only 200 million users are in what Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg calls “meaningful groups.” In the near future Zuckerberg expects that number to rise to one billion.
Many of these “meaningful groups” are secret groups. Hidden from cyber trolls, spammers and contrarians, secret groups offer members a space for like-minded individuals to seek advice, share opinions, and organize. Because secret groups offer more privacy, members are often more candid and more active.
Here’s the scoop on everything you need to know about Facebook’s secret groups.
Bonus: Start crafting your own Facebook group policy with one of our 3 customizable templates. Save time on admin tasks today by providing your group members with clear instructions.
There are three types of groups on Facebook: public, closed, and secret. Public groups are basically general admission. Everyone can find and view the group without needing approval to join.
Closed groups are more exclusive. Like public groups, everyone can search for and view the name, description and member list of a closed group. But users can’t view the group’s content until they become a member. To join a closed group you have to be approved by an administrator or invited by a current member.
Secret groups offer the same level of privacy as closed groups under a cloak of invisibility. No one can search for secret groups or request to join them. The only way to get in is to know someone who can invite you.
Everything shared in a secret group is visible only to its members.
Since secret groups are unsearchable and secretive by definition, you have to know someone who’s in the know to get you in. Here’s how to go about joining a secret group:
Step 1: Ask a current member to invite you. For this to work, you need to be friends on Facebook, too.
Step 2: Check your notifications or your inbox for the invitation.
Step 3: Read the group guidelines. Most often you’ll find group guidelines pinned to the top of the page, in the group’s description, or in a shared document.
Step 4: Look out for a new member post. Some administrators will ask new members to acknowledge that they’ve read and agree with the guidelines.
It’s no secret that nothing is ever really private on the Internet. Facebook, of course, has access to all content on its platforms and could put the content of a secret group under review for various reasons.
Secret groups may have their own guidelines, but they also need to adhere to Facebook’s Community Standards. Groups or users reported for violations of these standards such as hate speech, harassment, violence or nudity may be investigated and taken down. Facebook may also be obliged to handover secret group information if requested by the government.
Following the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal, Facebook announced plans to restrict third-party data access to groups. Currently, third-party apps need permission from an administrator to access group content for secret groups.
Group settings can change, too. In 2017 Hulu created a secret group for fans of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” In anticipation of the launch of the second season, the group’s administrators decided to make the group public to reach a wider audience. The decision upset many members who did not intend for their previous posts to be publicly available. Facebook currently does not allow groups with more than 5,000 members to switch to less restrictive privacy settings.
There are plenty of reasons to use a secret group.
During the 2016 US Presidential Election, Hillary Clinton supporter Libby Chamberlain created the secret group Pantsuit Nation for like-minded progressives. According to Chamberlain, the group—which grew to 3.9 million members in a few months —includes members who don’t necessarily want to broadcast their political views to their personal Facebook community. Of course, respite from Pepe trolls and Russian bots probably doesn’t hurt, too.
If it takes a village to raise a child, then why not create a secret virtual village, especially for dads who may feel awkward reaching out for help. Or, maybe you’re just a really hardcore potato chip lover who founded Gettin’ Chippy With It because you only have time for people who love potato chips as much as you.
The cat may be out of the bag on these secret Facebook groups, but don’t forget, you still need to know an insider to get an invite.
Obviously a really good reason to create a secret group is if you want to keep something a secret. Maybe you want to plan a surprise party for a friend or colleague. Make a pregnancy announcement with family and close friends. Create a support group for someone suffering from an illness. Or, as Facebook offers, gather participants of a reality show yet-to-be-launched. (If there’s a secret group for Queer Eye out there, let it be known that I want in.)
Most of the time brands aim to reach as wide an audience as possible, but there can be advantages to going off the radar. Secret groups can be used to generate buzz and brand intrigue, be a safe fan forum, or offer exclusive access to content or promotions.
By creating an official and private environment, members can feel more comfortable to express their opinions. And, moderators won’t need to worry about spammers or encroaching third-party companies.
Last year Facebook launched Groups for Pages, so page owners could create branded groups without using personal profiles.
If you’re considering using a group for your business, here’s everything you need to know.
Bonus: Start crafting your own Facebook group policy with one of our 3 customizable templates. Save time on admin tasks today by providing your group members with clear instructions.
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Click the “Create” button, found in the upper right of the page header, and select “Group.”
To create your group, add a name and a few members. For an extra touch, you can personalize invitations to members for an extra touch and to explain the group’s purpose if you like.
Choose “Secret Group” under the privacy dropdown.
Start by adding a cover photo and description. You can also add tags and locations.
Under the cover photo click “More” then select “edit group settings.” Here you can pick your group type, control membership approvals, post approvals, and set different group permissions.
You can also set up links to pages, which is ideal for brands wanting to link with their brand page.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure what privacy level you’ve set for your group, go to the group’s page and look for the group name in the top left corner. Underneath it will read either public, closed, or secret.
If your group is not set to secret and you’d like to change your settings, go to the “edit group settings” form. Scroll down to privacy and click “change privacy settings” and select “secret.”
Note: Once you’ve changed you group to secret, you have only 24 hours to change your group settings back. After that, if your group has more than 5,000 members, there’s no going back to closed or public settings.
Facebook only allows administrators to change groups to more restrictive settings.
Whenever you change a group’s settings, members will receive a notification.
Managing a secret group can be trickier than other types of Facebook groups or pages. Follow these steps to ensure best practices.
This is where you’ll let group members know the purpose of the group, community standards, and instructions.
You can pin guidelines in a post to the top of your page, put them in the group’s description, include them in a document, or all of the above.
Some things you may want to include in your guidelines are:
This is especially important if you anticipate having a lot of members. Extra help moderating comments, approving new members, and responding to member inquiries will be key to running a successful group.
Once you’ve identified trustworthy moderators, set up a schedule so it’s clear who’s expected to take care of responsibilities at given times. If it makes sense, make that schedule public so group members know who to contact on any given day.
Make sure you keep your guidelines fresh. Facebook policies may change, new questions may arise, or new developments may need to be addressed.
It’s always good to leave a timestamp, too, so members know when the guidelines have most recently been edited.
So, the secret’s out. Secret groups are awesome. Sure, they may require a little more moderation than a public or closed group, but members may be more inclined to engage more candidly and more often.
To see where groups might fit in to your company’s overall Facebook marketing plan, check out our definitive guide to Facebook groups.
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One of the first things you have to do when creating a Facebook Group is to choose your group privacy.
And one option you’ll have is to create a Secret Facebook Group; one which doesn’t show up in search results, where only members can find it, and where joining requires being invited by another member.
There are two privacy options for Facebook Groups: public and private (formerly public and closed groups). If you’re creating a private group, you can then adjust the settings to then have it visible or hidden from Facebook search (formerly called secret groups).
But what are the implications of creating a Secret Facebook Group? What are the pros and cons? How do members join a Secret Facebook Group? And how do you actually create one?
In this article you’ll learn what a Secret Facebook Group is, what it means when your group is set to hidden, and in which instances it would make sense to have a Secret Facebook Group. We’ll also show you how to create one.
Jump to: What is a Secret Facebook Group? I How Members Join I Benefits of a Secret Group I Creating a Secret Group I Moderating a Secret Facebook Group I FAQ
A Secret Facebook group is a private group which is not accessible to anybody other than its members.
It does not appear in Facebook search, and the direct URL to the group won’t work for non members (as per the above screenshot).
‘Secret’ is actually an outdated term, and Facebook now calls these types of groups ‘hidden’. However this terminology was officially used for so long, that many people continue to use it (which is why we will in this article).
The first thing to know about a Secret Group is that your group must be set to private. Having a public group which is completely open and accessible to everyone on Facebook goes against the whole concept of secrecy. As such, if you create a public group, hiding it will not be an option.
Once you create a private group, you have the additional option of making it visible or hidden. Visible means that anybody can find the group and request to join, while hidden means that only members can find it.
When you create a Facebook group, you’ll first need to choose your group name, and then your group privacy settings.
You cannot create a group without making these choices.
A public group is completely open and accessible to everyone on Facebook; all content is visible without first having to join (anyone can see who’s in the group and what they post) and Facebook will start to show the content of a public group even outside of Facebook.
That means members don’t have to ask for admission to read the content and, in future, admins will be able to choose if they want to allow non-members to contribute to discussions.
A private group is one where only current members can see the content, and membership must be requested and approved before a user is able to join. Invited members to a private group can see a preview of content for 28 days after they have been invited, though they won’t have full access until they join (this is the same regardless of whether your group is visible or hidden, depending on your membership approval settings.
More about that below).
It’s important to really think about which settings will be best for the purpose of your group. While public groups can change to private after they’ve been created, you cannot change a private group to public. This rule is there to protect the privacy of group members who joined a private group, so if you’re creating a private group, this is a permanent decision.
Once you have created a private group you can however switch back and forth between visible and hidden as much as you like. So it doesn’t matter for instance, if you create a visible private group to begin with, and later decide to switch it to hidden (or vice versa).
The difference between a hidden and visible Facebook group is very simple: a hidden group cannot be found by anyone other than its members. It will not appear in Facebook search, recommendations, and it cannot be discovered.
Even with a direct URL, the page that appears for non members will tell them that the content does not exist.
There is no trace of a hidden group to anybody other than its members.
On the other hand, a visible private group still retains its privacy, however the fact that it exists is public; ie, non members can find the group in Facebook search, discover it via Facebook’s recommended / similar groups feature and request to join, but will not be able to see any content or access information about members until they become a member.
| Visible | Hidden | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can see the group’s name? | Anyone | Current and invited members |
| Who can see the group description? | Anyone | Current and invited members |
| Who can find the group in search and other places on Facebook? | People on Facebook | Current and invited members |
| Who can request to join? | People on Facebook | Nobody. You have to be invited to join |
Notably, on Facebook’s Help Page for visible vs hidden groups, it states that former members can find, see, and request to join secret groups. However we tested this, and this is not the case. If a member leaves a secret group, they are no longer able to access, see, find, or request to join it. As such, the above table is a more up to date version that you’ll currently find on the Facebook Help Page.
When a member goes to leave a secret group, they are presented with a pop-up which warns them that they will not be able to find the group again unless another member invites them. They also have the option to prevent people from inviting them to join the group again. Once they leave the group, it no longer exists for their access.
Pro tip: If a former member is trying to re-join a Secret Facebook Group, and you are having trouble inviting them to join, they may have previously clicked the option to prevent being invited again in the future.
If this is the case, the only way they will be able to rejoin is if you change your group settings to visible, and provide them with the URL to request to join.
So if non members can’t find a Secret Facebook Group, how do they join one?
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Joining a secret / hidden Facebook group is by invitation only.
Within secret groups, all members have the ability to invite their friends to join the group. This is the same for admins, moderators, and general members, and is the only way someone can join a hidden group (currently there is no way to restrict the invite feature to admins and moderators only)./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/12803103/facebook-ios7-redesign.1419979915.jpg)
Keep in mind that Facebook only allows you to extend invitations to those within your friends list. This means that if you’re an admin, and let’s say you have an exclusive community for those who have purchased a product, you need to be Facebook friends with the person you’re adding in order to send them an invitation. There are a couple of ways you could handle this:
Once invited to join a secret group, the process will work in one of two ways, depending on your membership approval settings. Within the settings of your Admin Tools panel, you have a section called ‘Manage Membership’, where you can choose who can approve member requests. This section is important, as it will dictate how the process works for new members being accepted to a Secret / Hidden Facebook Group.
If they choose to join, they are automatically added into the group, and can bypass having to answer any membership questions. The option you choose in this instance will depend on your purpose and the level of exclusivity you wish for the group. If you have strict membership guidelines, ie our above example of an exclusive community for those who have purchased a product, you’ll want full admin control over who joins the group.
Where-as if you have a topic focused community where you want a little more exclusivity than that of a visible private group, but you’re happy for it to grow through word of mouth and friends of friends recommendations, you may choose to allow members to add their friends without having to go through you (though remember that this option skips your membership questions, meaning you forgo the opportunity to collect email addresses – one of our biggest monetization tips for Facebook Groups).
The most obvious disadvantage of a secret group on Facebook, is that you greatly limit your growth opportunities. The only way to grow this type of group is through direct word of mouth. It is highly exclusive, and takes many growth strategies off the table which would otherwise be available to you with a visible private group.
Much of the time the main aim of a group admin will be to grow your reach as wide as possible, however there’s always a place for exclusivity, and in some situations this can greatly benefit your business.
Hidden groups can come in handy if you have a small team you’re working on a project with, and you want an efficient and safe way of communicating with the group. For example, you could use a hidden group for planning a private event which shouldn’t be publicized.
They can also add value as an exclusive membership perk of either purchasing a product, subscription, training service, or work as a sub group of a larger free community, which could be a public group (ie you have a secret subgroup of your main, larger group).
For instance, we sell women only tours via our Solo Female Travelers group, and while the main group is a private visible group, and open to accepting new members, those who book our tours may then find value from joining a secret group to connect with other women who they’ll be traveling with.
If you manage large communities (like these largest groups on Facebook), secret groups can be a great means of communicating with your team of admins or moderators. Most small moderators have Messenger or WhatsApp threads to discuss issues relating to the moderation of a group, however if you have a large team, a Facebook Group could offer more functionality than a private message thread.
You might also choose to do this if you want to make membership to your group only available for a certain period of time, or if you want to stall it for a while. For instance, once our We Travel We Blog group reached 1,500 members, we decided we would close the group to new members, and made it a Secret Group from 2016, until it recently opened up again to new membership in 2020.
We built the community to the optimal membership numbers for our goals and purpose at the time, and then decided to preserve the atmosphere of a tight-knit support based community.
To create a Secret Group on Facebook, you can either do this from the very beginning when creating your group, or you can apply the change to an existing private group within your settings.
To create a new secret group, click on the + sign at the top of your Facebook feed, and choose the option to Create a Group. Fill in the applicable privacy settings, choosing ‘private’ group, and then choosing ‘hidden’ as per these three screenshots:
Once you have your group name and privacy settings down, you’ll need to invite at least one friend to join the group before the Create button becomes clickable. We recommend inviting a close friend who you can tell in advance that you’re creating a new group, but holding off on inviting anyone else until you’ve completed the rest of your set-up.
For a step-by-step guide with further information on creating a group, see our Create & Grow Your Group eBook.
To change an existing group to secret / hidden, navigate to your group settings within the Admin Tools panel. Within the ‘Set Up Group’ bubble, click on the pencil icon where it says ‘Hide Group’ and choose ‘Hidden’.
If you are changing a public group to a hidden group, you will first have to change your privacy setting to that of a private group. The ‘Hide Group’ section will not be available until you to.
Understand that in doing this, this is a permanent decision, and you will never have the option to return to a public group again. Public groups can be changed to private. However private groups cannot be changed to public. Facebook only allows administrators to change groups to more restrictive settings. This is because the members of a private group expect their content will not be made public at any time in the future.
The same rules and Community Standards apply to Secret Facebook Groups as to any other group or interaction on the platform, so from a moderation stand point, there’s no difference in the way we recommend approaching content and managing member behavior.
Bullying and harassment, hate speech, glorification of violence and cruel and insensitive posts, this is all still banned, and while Secret Groups may not have the element of being held accountable by the general public, they are still bound by Facebook Community Standards.
Just because your group is not visible to others on the platform, doesn’t mean that content is not visible to Facebook, and they moderate Secret / Hidden groups in exactly the same way in terms of removing inappropriate content, and algorithm policing.
Facebook has started taking a far more proactive role in removing content it deems inappropriate than they ever have before. If content has been removed from your group you will find this detailed in the Group Quality section of your Admin Tools – Group Quality lets you know if content in your group goes against Facebook policies, what they’ve done about it, and what you can do.
Secret Groups can still be reported by members for violations of these standards such as hate speech, harassment, violence or nudity, and a Secret Group can still be investigated by Facebook and taken down. Additionally, Facebook may also be legally required to handover secret group information if requested by the government.
Learn Our Secrets to Growing 15 Groups to 100k + Members! Get Our E-Book!400 + Actionable Pages
390 + How-to Screenshots
32 Proven Unpaid Growth Strategies
Sounds PERFECT! Show me the eBook!
My group has exploded using your strategies. A competing group actually asked me how I was growing so quickly!!
What is a Secret Facebook Group?
A Secret Facebook group is a private group which is completely hidden from non members.
Only members of the group can find it, and new members can only be added at the invite of current members, admins, or moderators. Nobody outside the group will be aware of its existence, and nobody can apply to join.
Did Facebook get rid of Secret Facebook Groups?
No. Facebook did not get rid of Secret Groups, they just changed the name of it. Secret Groups are now called ‘Hidden’. Hidden groups act in exactly the same way Secret Groups did. It’s simply a name change.
Can you find a Secret Group on Facebook?
You’ll only be able to find a Secret Group on Facebook if you are a member. Even if you have the direct URL of the group, if you’re not a member the page will say the content does not exist for you.
What’s the difference between a private and Secret Group on Facebook?
A Secret Group is one form of Private Group on Facebook.
There are two privacy options for Facebook Groups: public and private (formerly public and closed groups). If you’re creating a private group, you can then adjust the settings to then have it visible or hidden from Facebook search (formerly called secret groups).
How do you make a Secret Group on Facebook?
When you create a new group on Facebook, if you choose to make your group hidden, you have created a Secret Group. If you have an existing group, you can make it secret by changing your ‘Set Up Group’ settings in the Admin Tools dashboard to hidden.
Can my friends see if I join a closed group?
No. Your friends cannot see if you joined a secret / hidden Facebook group, and will only know it exists if you invite them to join.
Can you add non friends to a Secret Facebook Group?
You cannot add non friends to a Secret Facebook Group.
You can only invite people to join who are already in your friends list. The way around this we suggest for admins who don’t wish to be friends with their members, is to have a Page you manage added as an admin of your group, and have the prospective member like that Page. Once they have liked your page, you can log into your group as the page, and then when you hit the ‘invite’ button it will allow you to invite those who have recently liked your page.
Content:
If you are looking for multiple Facebook groups to join or view messages, you should know that there are two types of groups: public or private. Mostly secret groups are kept secret from the public and few people can join them. On Facebook, if you have group information, you can request to join these private groups, and once approved, you will be added. nine0003
Now, if you are removed from a private group, then in order to view the messages in this group, you either need to join or follow certain methods to find out what is happening inside this group.
To view private Facebook group you need to go to notifications and see if there is any private group invitation there and using this link you can join the group. Now, to check messages in a private Facebook group, if you've been deleted, you'll either need to rejoin the group or ask other group members to let you know what's going on there. nine0003
In this article, I will explain various methods to help you find private or secret groups first, and then you can follow the steps to join that group.
If you want to view the private groups you are already a member of, follow these simple steps. This method will help you with all the groups you have joined in one place. You don't have to individually check the groups you belong to. nine0003
To view private Facebook groups you have joined,
That's all you have to do.
If you want to view the messages of a private Facebook group without joining it, you can use several methods to view the messages:
The first way is to create an additional Facebook account.
All you have to do is create an alternate Facebook account for yourself and then follow the steps given below:
If you don't want to create an additional account, there is an alternative method. You can ask Google members to know exactly what's going on in the group. They can keep you up to date with messages shared in the group and any other discussions that are taking place in a group that you are not a member of.
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For this method to work, you must have at least one mutual friend who will tell you about the details and discussions in the group.
If your friends are generous enough, you can give them a helping hand, but of course they must be part of the group you want to know more about. You can use other members' accounts to view private messages in a private Facebook group. nine0003
Secret group is the third type of Facebook group. Groups that fall into this category are hidden from other Facebook users. These secret Facebook groups cannot be discovered using the search feature. Your usual method of finding the secret Facebook page does not work with such groups.
To find the secret Facebook group,
Join the secret Facebook group only if you have received an invitation from the current members of the secret group. nine0042 That's all.
Totals:
This article explains the methods you can use to find secret groups and then you can follow those methods to join or view messages in those private groups.
Help Center
Using Facebook
Groups
We're updating the mobile version of Facebook.
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The privacy settings of a Facebook group can only be changed by its administrator.
There are 2 privacy settings for Facebook groups:
Public - Everyone on and off Facebook can see group members and their posts.
Private - Only people in the group can see other group members and their posts. nine0003
Learn more about the differences between public and private groups.
Changing the privacy settings of public groups
You can make a public group private. If an administrator uses the scheduling feature to change privacy settings, they can cancel the scheduled change within 3 days. If a public group becomes private, you won't be able to undo this action.
With this:
All administrators will be notified of the scheduled change date. nine0003
When the group is closed, all members will be notified.
If the change is reverted, the group will remain public and all administrators will be notified.
To change the privacy settings of a public Facebook group you administer:
Classic Mobile
Click the icon in the top right corner of the Facebook window, scroll down to Groups, click Groups at the top of the screen, and select your group .
