8 Facebook Groups You Should Join Or Create Today [Weekly Facebook Tips]

Regular Facebook users have a pretty good handle on how to make the best of their home feed. Most of you know how to filter with friends lists, filter using topics, hide things you don't want to see and other useful things that make Facebook perfect while you procrastinate.

Not everyone seems to know much about groups, though. More specifically, why groups are useful and what you can do with them to make your life better. So today we'll take you through some of the best group ideas, so you know what you should look for, what you should create and why they're going to be great.

Search For A Local Sell & Swap Group

They're out there in the millions: groups of people wanting to sell/swap/donate stuff to other people. Facebook makes this kind of interaction really easy, so join a group of people who are selling or giving away stuff you want in your area. Clothes and toys for kids are huge for this, as no-one wants to see good gear get thrown out when it's still useful to someone.

Search for Groups people who live in my city are in" in order to find your hyper-local groups. You never know what else might turn up!

Join Groups Joined By Your Friends

Just in case you overlooked the most useful groups that your friends have found, here's a way to browse the most popular of your friends' groups. You'll be surprised, I'm sure!

Create Or Join Groups For Your Favourite Clubs

So, are you on a cricket team? Are you in a book club? Do you go to a gym? Are your kids in a dance class? Well, all of these groups probably have a Facebook group to keep communication happening about upcoming events. Find these groups to stay in touch, or make them if they don't exist yet. This can be an easy way to turn vague acquaintances into good friends, as you will find it easier to remember about events, and might start chatting with the group.

Your Work Club

Most offices have some sort of social interaction out of hours, as working with people is more fun when you know a little about each other personally. An office Facebook group can be a bit of a laugh, sharing links to things you all find amusing, and photos of office events. If you don't already have a group, make one! And no, it's not at all the same as your official Facebook Page.

While you're thinking about work, why not find professional groups of people who do the same thing as you? It's great to bounce ideas off like-minded people.

Your School

I know for many of us it's been a long time since we were in high school. And because of this, it's actually quite fun to be a part of a Facebook group for your school. It acts as a way to keep people informed of new changes to the school, articles you find about the school, old photos from school years, reminiscing about teachers, connecting with old school-mates and (of course) organising reunions, both big and small. My high school group just facilitated a morning tea reunion for girls from the class of '64, while simultaneously discussing plans for the big 20-year reunion of the class of '94.

While the large all-inclusive school group is a must, it's also fun to stay in contact with those clusters of people you used to hang around with at school or university. For instance, one of my most fascinating online social circles comes from a bunch of computer science students who all used to hang out in the same lab.

Do you play board games at the local shop on weekends? Do you go out to dinner with a regular group fairly often? Start a Facebook group for these loose social groups and you will be able to stay in touch with those friends and friends of friends much more easily. Instead of relying on the in-between friends for communication, you can directly say "Hey, let's do dinner this weekend", start an event for the group and see who turns up.

The Extended Family

Making a group for family seems a little obvious, or over-the-top, but it does make sense when you think about it. For starters, your elderly relatives probably don't know how to make friends lists for posting just to the family, and they probably don't know how to add people to a chat session. If you start a group, you know you can share those embarrassing photos between yourselves without anyone's boss seeing them. You can also start family chat sessions where unexpected family members might find themselves able to participate.

To make your family group, think about your family tree. Choose a couple, for example your grandparents on one side, and make a group for all of their descendants and partners. Name it accordingly, so that everyone knows who should be a part of the group and who shouldn't. Then do the same for your other side of the family. If you have done a lot of researching of your family tree, you could even create a group for a couple further up the tree, then invite all of their descendants. It's a great way to actually bring your family tree to life.

Note that it even makes sense to have a group for your more immediate family, if you want to make it easy to chat with everyone at once.

The Support Groups

If you're a parent, you have no doubt already found a great group of like-minded people to commiserate with when you've had no sleep or don't know whether to head to the hospital or not. Having this sort of support group on Facebook is a great way to get things off your chest and find quick answers to tricky questions. Plus, you get to know a bunch of people going through the same things as you are. So, if you're going through something difficult or life-changing, such as parenthood or a difficult medical issue, see if you can find a support group on Facebook. If not, create a Facebook group with your current support group.