Do your DC's class have a closed group on FB? Have you joined?

[moonsky]

I am not into the social media. DC just started the school and the class has a closed group on FB. Any experience?

[Green_Tea]

I am a teacher and a parent. Social media has played a huge role in my ability to keep up with what's going on with my kids at school. It's how I have found out about almost everything over the past eight years. As a teacher it makes it MUCH easier to keep in touch with families and share pictures. I think it's pretty much par for the course to expect that people will have social media, much like we started assuming that people had email 20 years ago.

[mom2binsd]

Not the class, the school PTO has a facebook page which is very helpful for finding out stuff!

I love using social media for things like the Nextdoor app, buying and selling with neighbors and finding out what's happening (good and bad) around the neighborhood.

I also love facebook as well, I live far away from family and have moved a lot in the last 20 years and it helps stay in touch with everyone! I luckily don't have any facebook friends who are drama lllamas though so that's nice.

[trcy]

There is a closed group for DD's grade at her school. It's been helpful for answering questions when I don't want to bug the school. Also, some parents will arrange playground meet ups.


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[moonsky]

Would it look weird if I joined the group with my new just created FB site with no friends and few pictures?

[BDKmom]

Our PTA has a Facebook page (not closed), but neither kid has been in a class with one yet. Several classes have used Shutterfly sites for pictures, calendar, sign up lists, class directory, etc. It has a discussion board option, but I find it's rarely used.

If the class had a closed FB group, I would have no problem with it and would probably find it useful.

[moonsky]

Anything you post on FB(pictures, messages, etc), all members can see them?

[trcy]

Would it look weird if I joined the group with my new just created FB site with no friends and few pictures?

I don't think it would look weird. I don't think anyone would really notice and if they did maybe they would just think you have tight privacy settings. My FB page is really private, so non friends can only see my profile picture and my friend list only shows mutual friends.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

Would it look weird if I joined the group with my new just created FB site with no friends and few pictures?

You might have to tell the admins who you are as they might be reluctant to include you. We discovered a way to filter out random people that have tried to join our PTO Facebook page but before that we (the admins) would look at user profiles to see if they lived in our city, had mutual friends within the community or other tells that indicated they were legit.
Social media really is a useful tool for building community with your group and staying informed. The parents that aren't on our PTO Facebook page are really missing out. I'd think it'd be even more so with a classroom only group.


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[Pear]

Our school has a closed group. Her teacher just sends emails. Like many of Dd's activities, joining isn't really optional. FB is often the primary way info is communicated.

[moonsky]

Can pictures on closed FB group be shared or copied to nonmembers?

[mom2binsd]

Unless the people in the group are your personal friends all they will see is your profile pic (which I would use a real pic of you so they know who you are and it will be helpful to the other parents), Set your privacy settings to the highest level and if you don't want to, don't accept friend requests from the other parents (although I will warn you, they will probably send you requests, just out of friendliness, most people assume everyone is on social media, but you can politely decline).

[Pear]

There is nothing wrong with having a locked down profile. A photo wouldn't be a bad idea. You can control the viewing permissions on Anything you post outside of the class group.

[moonsky]

I don't think it would look weird. I don't think anyone would really notice and if they did maybe they would just think you have tight privacy settings. My FB page is really private, so non friends can only see my profile picture and my friend list only shows mutual friends.


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Other members can't see your posts or pictures if they are not also your friend on your list? Are other members in the closed group consider your friends on FB? Are they going to see anything you post after you join the closed group?

[moonsky]

Unless the people in the group are your personal friends all they will see is your profile pic (which I would use a real pic of you so they know who you are and it will be helpful to the other parents), Set your privacy settings to the highest level and if you don't want to, don't accept friend requests from the other parents (although I will warn you, they will probably send you requests, just out of friendliness, most people assume everyone is on social media, but you can politely decline).
May I know how to set up the privacy setting to the highest level?

[moonsky]

There is nothing wrong with having a locked down profile. A photo wouldn't be a bad idea. You can control the viewing permissions on Anything you post outside of the class group. What do you mean "Locked down profile"?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Other members can't see your posts or pictures if they are not also your friend on your list? Are other members in the closed group consider your friends on FB? Are they going to see anything you post after you join the closed group?

No. They exist separately. The only thing they'd see if your profile is what you make public.
The photos posted to the group could potentially be shared. You'd have to ask.


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[trcy]

Other members can't see your posts or pictures if they are not also your friend on your list? Are other members in the closed group consider your friends on FB? Are they going to see anything you post after you join the closed group?

Members of the group (that are not my friends) can only see what I post or comment on within the group. The members of the group are not my FB friends unless I accept their request or I send them a request and they accept.


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[lizzywednesday]

Other members can't see your posts or pictures if they are not also your friend on your list?

Not exactly. My local babywearing group is a Closed group; I can see other members' posts & photos within the group, but they can't see what I post to my timeline. They can only see what I post in the group.

They will be able to see your posts, but you do have to upload photos differently rather than share them from your personal album or they will get an "attachment unavailable" note in their view.


Are other members in the closed group consider your friends on FB?

No.

You have to add friends to your profile.


Are they going to see anything you post after you join the closed group?

No. They will only see what you post in the group, unless you accept them as a friend to your profile.

There's a comprehensive help section to help you determine your appropriate security/privacy settings, etc., on Facebook. It's fairly easy to understand.

[PZMommy]

Can pictures on closed FB group be shared or copied to nonmembers?

Technically yes. If a member saves the picture they can repost it or do whatever they want to with it.

[KpbS]

Yes, it's a great source of information.

[georgiegirl]

DS2s preschool class had a FB group. The teacher said it's a million times easier to post pics and updates on FB than on her blog. (Preschool at the public elem school.). The group is closed and you can only add by invite. Only person who posts is the teacher.

Some of DD's teachers (6th grade) post pictures on instagram and twitter. So I had to sign up for an instagram account.


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[DualvansMommy]

My district that covers 2 elementary schools and one middle schools have FB group (set to public) that I follow as it is full of good information, as well the school PTO keep a public page on FB which I follow as well.

In addition, I'm also a member of the closed moms group that invites residents in my town only to become members and this is where all kinds of useful information is posted about referrals to doctors, pediatrics, vendors, school info, illnesses, crime, new information about stores closing/openings, and suggestions for best market/vacations/restaurants, etc. Lastly, I was just invited to a SECRET group for DS1's class (this is where if you try to input the group name in search, it won't come up-have to know about it or invited by existing member.

I locked my FB profile to the highest settings.

[TwinFoxes]

OP, if you have few friends and no pictures, I'm not sure what the privacy concern is? You don't use FB, so there doesn't seem like much to hide.

If you want to join (which I recommend), upload a photo of yourself so the admins know you're a human, not a bot, and join the group. School groups in my experience are helpful and informative.