Skip to main content

Members can share the same Story with Facebook’s new Group Stories

Facebook

Facebook Stories is expanding to Groups. On Tuesday, December 4, Facebook announced the global availability of Group Stories. The feature allows members of the same Facebook Group to contribute to the Group’s Story.

Unlike the Stories coming from individual Facebook users, Group Stories allow multiple members of the same group to share to the same Story. The Story then displays the Group name as well as the individual user creating the post.

To add to a Group Story, Facebook users can navigate to the Group on the Facebook app and tap “add” underneath the option that says “Your Group’s Story.” Users can then select a photo or video from the camera roll, and like with a typical Story, can choose to add stickers, text, doodles, and effects before adding the content. The privacy options also allow users to share that same content to their own Story, as well as creating a post or sending in Messenger.

The expansion of the previously tested tool also launches with reactions inside those Group Stories, which allows members to respond with emoji reactions. The tool, Facebook says, allows users to respond quickly to the Story.

Not all Groups will have the new Stories option. Facebook says Group admin can choose a setting that limits sharing to admin members only, instead of every Group member. Group admins can also use new tools to approve or delete Stories contributions from members before they go live.

Facebook says the new Group Stories is designed to encourage casual sharing among group members. For example, the company says that a Group like Dogspotting can use Stories to allow members to share photos and videos of the different dogs they spot. Facebook envisions cooking groups sharing recipes and dishes on Group Stories, and travel Groups sharing glimpses of member adventures.

Both Stories and Groups have been a focus for several of the latest Facebook updates. Facebook recently added the option to add music to a Story shortly after Instagram gained the feature. Facebook Groups over the past year have gained features like mentors, Watch Party, and a test for paid Group subscriptions. As of August 2018, Facebook said that more than two million users participate in Groups.

Editors' Recommendations

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
NASA’s Perseverance rover’s new wheels can grip and better withstand rocks
Three of the six flight wheels that will travel to Mars can be seen attached to NASA's Perseverance rover (which is inverted on a handling fixture) on March 30, 2020 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The protective antistatic foil covering the wheels will be removed before launch this summer.

NASA's new Mars rover, Perseverance, nears completion as it is fitted with new wheels and a massive air brake parachute.

The rover had its wheels fitted for the first time last year, but those were engineering model wheels which are used for fitting and testing, such as checking whether the rover could stand on its own wheels and take its own weight. With that testing now complete, the NASA team could remove the model wheels and replace them with the real wheels that the rover will run on when it reaches Mars.

Read more
Snapchat can now share Stories to other apps, simultaneously or exclusively
snapchat app stories announced 001

Snapchat users can now share their Stories outside of Snapchat, thanks to the latest update that invites third-party developers to leverage Stories for their own platforms. Launching on March 31, App Stories is Snapchat’s personal invitation for third-party developers to build Stories into their apps, allowing Snapchatters to send their Snaps to Stories in another app. Four apps have already built-in that integration.

App Stories is part of Snap Kit, the code that helps other apps build in Snapchat integrations. With the expansion of that code, developers can now create the option to share Stories that were originally created inside Snapchat. The option opens up the Snap camera to share Stories inside other apps.

Read more
New Apple bug may be sharing your Keychain passwords with Family Sharing members

Apple has rolled out a new patch for iOS 13 as users discover new bugs seemingly every other week. The maker of the iPhone and other popular devices may have to release another one: A few Apple users who have enabled Family Sharing on their iCloud accounts are complaining that their Keychain credentials are being synced with other family members without permission.

In a tweet, Indian iOS developer Tanmay Sonawane wrote that all the passwords he has stored in Keychain, Apple’s default password manager, were available on his brother’s Apple devices as well. This means, for instance, that when a family member visits a site for which you too have saved the login in Keychain, they will be able to view the option in their Autofill drop-down menu on Safari.

Read more