Facebook groups are set up by people for many different purposes. Sometimes you want everyone to see the information and sometimes you want just members you approve to see the information.

Generally the groups I have set up are public meaning anyone can view the group whether they are a member or not. Club Facebook pages are usually set up as public as you want people to know about your organization, but clubs may want the information shared by their members in which case they want to set private. If you were setting up a group to keep up with the medical condition of a family member of friend, you probably want it set as private and not as public, so only people you approve will know the information.

When you create a group Facebook will ask you to pick a privacy setting. The three choices are public, closed and secret.

Public groups anyone can see the posts that members have posted. You have to be a member to post.

Closed groups are groups that people can see the group exists and request to join, but only members can see posts or make posts

Secret groups that only members can see that the group exists and only members can read or make posts. The owner or moderator of the group has to invite people to join

Once a group is made you can go back and change which type the group it is. In the area where group name is and usually a picture on the right side at bottom there is a bar that says Share, Notifications and … You will click the … then Edit Group settings and then you see the same privacy settings as when you set it up and you can change it. You will have to have administrator rights to the group to change these setting.