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Connect with your neighbours on Facebook

Use Facebook Groups to stay connected

It's easy to keep in touch on Facebook Groups. We'll show you how.

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Facebook Groups are often used to communicate about the things we have in common; from cute cat videos, to rental listings, to do-it-yourself advice and music instrument sales. We think they're great for keeping neighbourhoods connected. Learn how to find out if your neighbourhood already has a Facebook group, and if they don't, we'll show you how to set one up.

So, why a Facebook Group?

There's a few things we like about using Facebook for neighbourhood connections. Here's some of them:

  1. You don't have to already be Facebook friends to communicate and share with others in Facebook groups - meaning you can avoid the painstaking approach of finding every single neighbour's profile on Facebook
  2. You can customise the privacy settings to suit your group - which gives you control over who can and can't join the group, and what they need to answer before they do
  3. Group admins get control over member approvals, and can remove posts or block problematic individuals, meaning you can keep people safe

We found a Facebook group for our local neighbourhood a couple of weeks after moving in. It's made us feel safe and surrounded by people who care about the place we live in.

Adam, Australian Red Cross staff member

Getting started with Facebook groups

Depending on the device you're using, there's a couple of ways to create a Facebook group.

On your computer

  1. Open Facebook and click on the dropdown arrow (▼) at the top-right of the screen
  2. Select Create group
  3. Enter your group name - it's good to be specific here so that others in your neighbourhood can easily find the group
  4. Add any neighbours you're already Facebook friends with as group members
  5. Set the privacy settings for the group - you can learn more about groups privacy settings here
  6. Click Create
  7. Consider setting questions for pending members when they request to join - this can help you ensure you know who's joining and if they're actually neighbours in your community

On your phone or tablet

  1. Open Facebook and tap the "more" menu at the right of the icon bar (denoted by three horizontal lines, one above the other)
  2. Select Groups from the list of options
  3. Click the + button to add a new group
  4. Enter your group name - it's good to be specific here so that others in your neighbourhood can easily find the group
  5. Add any neighbours you're already Facebook friends with as group members
  6. Set the privacy settings for the group - you can learn more about groups privacy settings here
  7. Tap Create
  8. Consider setting questions for pending members when they request to join - this can help you ensure you know who's joining and if they're actually neighbours in your community

Depending on the device you're using, there's a couple of ways to search for and join a Facebook group.

On your computer

  1. Open Facebook and look for Groups in the left-hand side Explore menu
  2. In the search bar at the top, enter some keywords for the group you're looking for - this could be street names, local area names, or even your entire suburb
  3. If the group you're looking for appears, select it, and then click + Join Group below the cover photo
  4. Complete any questions that the group admins have created for approving new members - this helps keep the group safe and can ensure that only people living in your neighbourhood are members

On your phone or tablet

  1. Open Facebook and tap the "more" menu at the right of the icon bar (denoted by three horizontal lines, one above the other)
  2. Select Groups from the list of options
  3. In the search bar at the top, enter some keywords for the group you're looking for - this could be street names, local area names, or even your entire suburb
  4. If the group you're looking for appears, select it, and then tap the Join Group button
  5. Complete any questions that the group admins have created for approving new members - this helps keep the group safe and can ensure that only people living in your neighbourhood are members

If you're having trouble finding a group for your local area, you can try using the Discover feature within the groups area on Facebook, or create your own group following the steps above.

You can learn more about Facebook groups, how to create them, how to join them, and how to manage them from Facebook's dedicated help section for Facebook groups.

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