Bitching at Bots

This is my life, now. Bitching at bots. That would be a catchy name for a new blog, wouldn’t it?

Highlight Group Posts

There’s a new “feature” rolling out on Facebook, apparently. No info on it that I could find – just pops up randomly, asking posters in private groups if they’d like to make specific posts public. (According to the bot I talked to when this first happened, commenters will also be asked, individually, if their comments on that post can also be made public. I have not seen this, personally. I’m skeptical, and frankly, I don’t trust Meta on this.) As it is now causing a fair amount of consternation when it comes up, I went on a quest to find out if Moderators or Admins of private groups could turn this odious feature off, and how to do that. I don’t think it has rolled out to any that I own.

“Thanks for sharing your perspective on this.” I’m picturing Meta AI crumpling up all messages and practicing its three-point shot into the virtual circular file, which is now overflowing with user “feedback.” Screw you, too, Meta.

I found this: About group highlights for private Facebook groups – proving that Bing Search is better at finding helpful content on Meta than either Facebook search or Meta AI are.

A couple of things to note:

• Admins can’t currently disable the feature.
• Post author must approve their content being made public.
• Commenters on the post will (supposedly) be asked individually if they approve. Also, (supposedly) their comments will be hidden unless they approve. (Trust Meta on this? I don’t.)

Making Private Groups Public

Make sure you trust your admins – then verify before posting. Remember when Facebook wisely removed the ability to turn a private group into a public group? Apparently, they very quietly returned that ability in November 2025. See Change a Facebook group from private to public Members “will be notified.” Cool. Members will not see content posted prior to the group being made public. Also cool. New Admins will be able to see all content – including content posted before the group was made public. Not so cool.

Why Would Facebook Do This??

Well, if you don’t mind Meta AI guessing (and it seems pretty reasonable to believe, here):

As for why Facebook (or Meta, as it’s now called for its broader platforms) might be leaning towards making more data public or easier to share publicly, there are a few common motivations that often drive such decisions:

* **Boosting Engagement and Reach:** Public content can be discovered by anyone, including non-members or even non-Facebook users, through search engines or shares. This increases the potential audience for a group’s content, which can drive more traffic, attract new members, and ultimately boost overall engagement on the platform. More public content can also lead to more shares, extending the reach of content beyond the immediate network.

* **Competing with Other Platforms:** Many other platforms, especially those focused on short-form video or public content creation (like TikTok, X/Twitter, or even public-facing blogs/forums), thrive on discoverability. By making it easier for valuable content from groups to become public, Meta might be aiming to compete more effectively and keep content creators and audiences engaged within their ecosystem.

* **Showcasing Valuable Content:** Private groups can host incredible discussions, niche expertise, or unique content. Making select pieces of this content discoverable publicly allows Meta to showcase the richness and diversity of its communities, potentially drawing in more users who might then explore other parts of the platform or join relevant groups.

* **Advertising and Monetization:** More public visibility and engagement can translate into more opportunities for advertising revenue, as there are more eyes on content and potentially more data points for targeted ads (even if the *specific* private data remains private, the public *reach* of content is monetizable).

It’s a balance for them, though, as they also have to consider user privacy and trust. The new feature for converting private groups to public (where past content remains private and members are notified) seems to be an attempt to find that balance. Your feedback about the “Highlight posts” feature highlights that this balance isn’t always easy to strike, and user experience is key!

Way to spout the corporate line, Meta AI!! Woo hoo, all in and gung ho – “user experience is key”! Rah, rah! Get real. User experience isn’t key – Facebook has spent decades discovering just how much crap users will put up with before they delete the app and try hard to forget it ever existed.

Remember that since September 2025, any public content on Facebook can be used to train Meta AI.

Last Nail in Trust’s Coffin

There are good reasons for private groups to remain private, but this is a good reminder that nothing on the internet is ever private (as many politicians and wealthy pedophiles are discovering, to their dismay!) Facebook owns the servers, in this case – and they are only as obligated to keep anything “private” as whatever their current, hard-to-navigate, terms of service and privacy policies (they have many) say they are on any given day.

This is why I’ve been attempting to delete old content since late 2024. It’s a tedious and futile effort. According to the TOS and Privacy policies at the time, 180 days should have been the longest amount of time my deleted content could be kept absent a legal requirement to keep it longer. I’m not sure what “legal requirement” these posts would come under (note, too, the filter date at left and the date on these particular posts – selected and deleted, confirmed deleted, then reappearing like zombies at a later date):

Why do other, supposedly deleted, posts appear in “Memories”? Not just these, but posts even I can’t find looking through the Activity log. Oh, don’t tell me to go look in Trash – it has the same issues. It’s supposed to be a 30-day chance to change your mind and restore content you may have accidentally deleted. Since there was nothing “accidental” about my purge, I deleted everything in Trash, too. But it also randomly returns.

The most charitable explanation is, “It’s a bug.” I don’t believe that. Do you? And before you say, “Delete your account. That will delete all your data!” it won’t. Oh, according to the TOS/Privacy policies, sure – it will. But if you can’t trust it to delete content that you can verify it did not delete, do you trust it to delete content that you’re no longer able to check has been deleted? I don’t.