Using the new Groups feature, you can compartmentalize your Facebook friends much the way you probably do in real life (even without thinking about it): office mates, family, your WOW guild, your record-collecting friends, your college dorm buddies.

While the new Groups feature doesn't exactly replicate the real world habits it attempts to mimic, it does make it easy to subdivide your Facebook friends and filter your posts based on the norms and mores of each group.

For example, you can send updates to only those friends who will "get" them. Your mom probably doesn't care about that arcane bit of nerd humor you just posted in your last status update, but your work-related friends will. Put your work friends in a separate group, and post that message to them and them alone without boring or confusing poor old mom.

Each group gets its own page, wall and news feed. You can also run a group chat or an e-mail list inside your group.

There are a few things to know, and some privacy concerns. Here's our guide:

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Setting up a Facebook Group

To get started, look for the Groups option in the left-hand menu on the main Facebook page. Just click that link, then click the "Create a Group" button.

That will bring up a short form where you can give your group a name, description, category and any other info you want to include.

Once you save your group, you'll be taken to a "Customize" screen, which allows you to exercise some control over your new group. Select who can join the group, who is allowed to post to it and even whether or not it will accept images and videos.

This is also the time to decide how public you'd like your group to be.

Controlling your group's privacy

Facebook offers three levels of privacy for groups: Open (the default option), Closed and Secret.

"Open" means that anyone can join your group. Anyone can invite others to join and all posts will be seen by everyone. Posts are also indexed by the web's search engines.

The "Closed" option will make your group members-only. Only you (and any others you make group admins) will be able to invite new friends, and all invites must be approved. Anyone will still be able to see the group and any description you added, but only members will be able to see the group's wall, discussion threads and photos.

The last option is for a "Secret" group. Secret groups work just like the closed variety, but make your group invisible to anyone who is not a member -- no will even know the group exists until they're invited, and only existing members can see content within the group.

You can choose one setting. If you choose "Skip," the default is "Open."

Adding friends to your group

How you add friends depends on which privacy level you chose for your group. If you group is open, then all you need to do is add your friends.

In fact, you don't even need their permission -- thanks to the way Facebook Groups' default settings work, you can add your friends to groups they might not even want to be a part of.

If your Facebook Group is open, then those friends can turn around and add their friends, and your group can grow as it gets passed around Facebook.

If you've opted to create a "closed" or "secret" group, the process of adding friends is the same. The main difference is that only you can add new members -- your secret group will never be a viral hit.

Protecting your own privacy

There is currently no way to keep people from adding you to a group. Users have directed their outrage towards Facebook for including this "feature", and this may change. But for now, there's no way to keep somebody from adding you to a group.

However, you can leave a group easily: go to the group page and click "Leave Group." Once you do this, you can't be re-added by anyone except yourself.

Only your friends can add you to groups. If you have a friend who keeps adding you to groups you don't want to be a part of, de-friend them.

Getting rid of a Facebook Group

If, for whatever reason, you decide you'd like to delete your group, just kick everyone out using the admin page and then click the "Leave Group" link. When the last person leaves a group -- in this case you, the one who set it up -- the group is automatically deleted.

Authors: How-To Wiki

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