Facebook rolls out Group Stories globally, adds emoji reactions

Facebook announced on Tuesday it was rolling out Stories to Groups globally and adding emoji reactions for Group members. Group Admins will have access to existing controls to monitor both the content included in a Story and the members allowed to contribute.

Why you should care

Facebook Groups offer brands and advertisers an alternative to connecting with audiences and generating more engagement on the platform outside of News Feed ads. Now that Stories are available globally, all marketers managing Groups will be able to use the content format to promote more interaction between Group members.

Facebook began offering Stories to Groups earlier this year, but is now adding emojis reactions so that members can respond to content. In October, Facebook introduced a number of controls for Group Admins to monitor content in Stories and the members contributing to them, including:

• The ability to block or mute a member from contributing to a Story.
• An approval feature to approve members before they add content to a Story.
• The ability to delete any Story photos or videos not related to the Group.
• Admin-only setting that allows only Group Admins the ability to post and contribute to Group Stories.
• The ability to opt-out of Group Stories to disallow the feature within a Group.

Christine Rushing, the Admin of the Milky Mommas Group, told Facebook her Group members are connecting through Stories by sharing pictures of their children.

“It’s a great way for members to invite each other in, sharing snapshots of their day to day lives,” said Rushing, “From an administrator stand point, we love the flexibility of the feature. Admins can directly and casually interact with group members or use it as another tool to reach membership.”

More on Facebook Group Stories

• Facebook Group members can view Group Stories on both mobile and desktop, but only add to a story from their mobile device.
• To add to a Group Story, members tap on the Story located at the top of the Group mobile page and select the “add” button.
• Groups Admins can manage Story posting permissions and approvals via Group settings, and block or mute members directly from the Story’s settings. Pending and reported Stories can be monitored via Group “Admin tools” on a mobile device or the “Moderate Group” feature on desktops.