Groups is one of Facebook’s more useful features. It allows you to segregate people and give them a common platform to discuss things. Groups also have a lot of other benefits, such as creating one for planning a trip somewhere, or creating another to plan a party and so on. To counter people who join groups only to troll and spread spam, Facebook is rolling out a new feature that will allow groups to screen their members with a questionnaire.
The new feature will let group admins screen potential members through three questions. The member will be faced with these questions while requesting to join a particular group and must pen answers to them if he/she wants to apply. The admin can then go over their answers and decide whether they are serious and would be able to contribute constructively to the community.
The feature has already been rolled out to all group admins. Speaking with the TechCrunch, a Facebook spokesperson said:
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.
If you are a group admin, and if you have been plagued with similar issues as well, you can find the option to guard the path into your group with some questions write in group settings. Here, you can create up to 3 questions under Ask Pending Members Questions.
The answers would be limited to 250 characters and be visible only to moderators and group admins. They are not posted to the group either, so there is no way the sanctity of your group will b disturbed. And group admins will hopefully have less trouble with spammers and trolls on the group.
