The privacy and safety of our followers is extremely important so we wanted to take some time to share the difference between our Adoptees Connect Public “like” Pages vs. our Adoptees Connect Private/Semi-Private Groups on Facebook. We feel it’s important to understand the difference between the two, because it’s really easy to get them confused with one another.
Facebook Pages were designed to be the official profiles for entities, such as celebrities, brands or businesses, essentially anyone on Facebook can create these Pages. Many of our small group facilitators have created these pages for their groups. You will notice this Page because you have to click the “Like” (thumbs up) button to follow it, and if you don’t click the like button you won’t receive updates that this page posts.
These pages create a public presence on Facebook. Unlike your personal profile, Facebook Pages are visible to everyone on the internet by default. You, and every person on Facebook, can connect with these Pages by becoming a fan and then receive their updates in your News Feed and interact with them.
Once you “like” this page, everything you share on the page, all comments, and questions can show up to your friends list, and in your news feed. This means everyone on your friends list can see what you comment and say on the public pages.
**If you don’t want everyone on Facebook, including friends & family to see what you comment, you will not want to post on these pages because they are public. This is ALL PAGES, Not just the Adoptees Connect pages. This is a Facebook policy, not an Adoptees Connect policy.
ADOPTEES CONNECT, OUR GROUPS, NOR OUR FACILITATORS OR VOLUNTEERS HAVE ANY CONTROL OVER THIS.
Facebook Groups operate a little different. They are the place for small group communication and for people to share their common interests and express their opinion. Groups allow people to come together around a common cause, issue or activity to organize, express objectives, discuss issues, post photos and share related content. Many of our Adoptees Connect groups have created a group to keep up with our attendees in between our monthly meetings.
When you start a group on Facebook you can decide whether to make it publicly available for anyone to join, require administrator approval for members to join or keep it private and by invitation only. Like with Pages, new posts by a group are included in the News Feeds of its members and members can interact and share with one another from the group.
Every group is set up uniquely how the admin desires, and some have more safety restrictions set up than others. You will always want to visit the group admins, and settings for every single group you are a part of so you can see if the group has been set as public, or private before you comment in this space. 
Due to the growth of social media platforms, with this ability comes the power to shape the narrative of what you want your followers to learn about you. We encourage everyone to be very aware and careful of how they craft their online messages and what they share.
There is ALWAYS a risk someone on the internet will breach confidentiality in a group online, or anywhere for that matter. Let’s be honest, the internet is NOT A SAFE PLACE. This is one of the many reasons why our groups were created to meet in real life. Be careful what you share. Be cautious who you trust online. Learn the difference in these platforms and which are public and which are private. If you aren’t 100% sure, don’t post at all.
Adoptees Connect Groups are designed to take online relationships offline, and to get to know the person behind the profile. Our Facebook pages, groups and social media accounts aren’t created to take the place of this. We’ve learned the increased cyber-bullying attacks in Adoptionland and online are something we’re not supporting. Our groups we’re designed to navigate away from these communities because we feel meeting in real life for our groups and meeting in person is much safer.
Our suggestion is to all of our followers, don’t post anything online in ANY group, page or social media platforms, that you wouldn’t want your friends, family or anyone on the internet to see. This is Adoptees Connect Pages & Groups, and ALL others.
This is for your own personal security and safety.
Where Adoptee Voices Meet 