Now answer questions before joining Facebook Group

Ensuring that right persons are added in a Group, Facebook has rolled out a feature that allows admins to set up three questions for people requesting to join the Group.

This allows admins to screen the potential member and make sure the added member does not troll or spam the Group, TechCrunch reported on Friday.

"Screening new membership requests requires time and legwork for admins -- particularly for groups built around focused passions or purpose. For these groups, admins typically have specific criteria they require before admitting new members."

"Establishing these open-ended questions enables them to more quickly review and approve member requests; in turn, people seeking communities of support or shared interest can more quickly connect with others," the report quoted a Facebook spokesperson as saying.

Potential members can answer the questions in up to 250 characters each that can be seen by admins and moderators only, and will not be posted on the Group.

"Users who hit 'Join' on a Group with a questionnaire will be asked to fill it out immediately, while those invited to join will get a notification linked to the form.

Applicants can edit their answers until they're reviewed," the report noted.

The new update gives more control to the Group admins, who can select the questions and decide whom to add in the Group -- something that can lead to productive discussions.

"One of the things that we've seen in online communities, also including offline communities, is that having an engaged and talented leader is one of the key things for making a strong community ? but right now our Groups product hasn't really been built to facilitate the leaders," Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Facebook had said in February.

Facebook is holding its first Communities Summit for Group admins in Chicago in June.

It is expected that more updates related to Groups would be rolled out that might define specific roles and permissions of moderators and admins.

--IANS

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