Facebook is bringing Messenger into Groups, allowing Group members to start chats with up to 250 members, and audio or video calls with up to 50 members.
There are currently 1.4 billion people using Facebook Groups worldwide every month, with the number of active groups reaching into the tens of millions. And now, Facebook wants them chatting. All Group members will soon be able to start chats by clicking “Start Chat” within the Chats tab available at the top of Group pages.
After clicking, they are redirected to Messenger to give the chat a name and choose specific members to add. Any group member can also see and join any open chats, allowing a second level of interaction within Groups. However, only group members can participate.
The feature – which is rolling out gradually – notifies group members when they’ve been added to chats, but they can also decide to receive notifications when the chats begin, and they are @mentioned. Notifications can, of course, be turned off at any time.
While all Group members can create chats by default, Group admins can shut down chats or allow only other admins to be able to create them. If you have the feature already, it’s an early version that Facebook will be evolving over time. Therefore, don’t be surprised if and when things change.
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