Facebook users are now able to opt out of receiving Group chat messages. The news of the new feature came in the form of a response to a Quora question that asked just that: “Why isn’t there an option to turn off notifications for a Facebook group?” Groups team members Andrew Bosworth and Feross Aboukhadijeh responded, saying that based on user feedback, that option now exists, accessible via the “Edit Settings” button on the group’s page.
Although Facebook’s addition of a more sophisticated Groups has added some beneficial privacy features, there have been numerous complaints, particularly when it comes to email and chat notifications. While the ability to send chat messages to any online group member might be great in some circumstances, as Group Chat allows any member to send messages to everyone in the group who’s online, clearly there can be some problems.
Bosworth’s initial response to the Quora question said, “If people don’t want to chat with a group, why are they a part of that group? Do they find it valuable or should the re-evaluate? Surely, at any given time we might not be inclined to chat but if you never want to chat I think that says something.” But his response was updated to say that the opt-out has been added. Although leaving an annoying group is still, of course, an option.
