Facebook Groups vs. Pages: What’s the difference?

The recent redesign of Facebook Groups has them looking and acting exactly like Fan Pages.  Therefore, many are left wondering, what ARE the differences… and which should I use?  That question in itself  has been circulating around since the inception of Fan Page almost 2 years ago.  

With the new redesign, Groups will have their own Wall, and updates will appear in the News Feed along with the ability to comment.  Incidentally, you’ll only see updates from the group when your friends post to it, rather than updates from the group population at large (this would be rather overwhelming for groups with large memberships).

First, let’s weigh in on Facebook’s take on how Groups and Pages should be used: 

“Keep in mind that while Groups and Pages now look the same, they still serve different purposes. Groups are for fostering member-to-member collaboration, while Pages remain the best way to broadcast messages to your fans if you are a business, organization, public figure or other entity.”

Some of the big differences that separate Groups from Pages:

1. Group updates/posts:  When you post something as the group administrator, it comes from you and it is attached to your personalprofile.  Content upates in pages comes from the page itself; no ties to a person’s (admin’s) profile.
2. Pages are indexed by external search engines, groups are not.
3. Only groups that have less than 5000 members can send email updates
4. Updates from groups will only appear in your News Feed if the update was posted by one of your friends.
5. Groups have privacy options, (Open to All, Open to Network, Closed and Secret) while Pages do not. 

The bottom line:

Groups are great for organizing and collaborating on a more personal level and to foster interaction around let’s say, a cause. Pages are better for brands, businesses, or celebrities who want to interact with their fans or customers without having them connected to a personal Facebook account that would be inhibited by a personal profile’s 5,000 friend limit.

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