Are you a Facebook group admin looking for examples of Facebook group rules?

Facebook groups are a popular way to build a closed circle of members who desire a closer relationship with your community, product or service.

Today, there are “tens of millions” of groups, that are managed by over 70 million active admins and moderators worldwide, Facebook says. And over 1.8 billion people participate in groups each month.

However, managing a Facebook business group isn’t as easy as it seems. One great tool designed to help you manage your online community is Facebook group rules.

In this post, I’ll share with you everything you need to create the best Facebook group rules, including best practices and examples - no matter what your group size or type.

BEFORE YOU START!

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Table of Contents Show

Why Have Facebook Group Rules?

A Facebook group is one of the most powerful ways to grow a community online. But without a solid set of rules for everyone to follow, a calm and enjoyable group can quickly descend into chaos.

By posting clear rules and being consistent in enforcing them, you will be in the best position to prevent unwanted posts and conflict from arising (without the need for Facebook AI robots to jump in and moderate on your behalf!).

Group rules also serve as a way to make sure every member feels welcome and encouraged to share their opinion, instigate a discussion or ask a question.

Once you've written them, group rules are displayed in the About section of your group. Group rules will also be displayed when a member requests to join your group if it asks membership questions.

Facebook Group Rules Tips and Best Practices

Whatever type of Facebook group you run, here are some handy hints and tips to ensure that you and your members accept and respect them as you grow a community together:

Group rules don't have to be scary and cruel! As I mentioned in the introduction, rules should help set the tone for your group and prevent conflict.

For new groups especially, setting out rules early on can set expectations of the group culture you want to foster. Ideally, add rules to your group before you launch it. Some of the best groups (those with very little conflict) credit their success to having rules in place from day one.
Great rules set the tone of the group by listing the ways members can positively contribute, rather than saying "don't do this, don't say that." After all, you will want to encourage plenty of positive discussion in your group, not stifle it. Describe the behaviours you want to encourage, rather than listing only things members should not do.
If you make changes to your rules, roll them out in smaller steps rather than all at once. Gradual changes in rules will allow the community time to adapt and react.
Remind members of your group's rules by posting them in the group on a regular basis, since many group members will skip over them when they first join. When members see an admin consistently enforcing the rules, they know they should take the group's rules seriously.
If needed, restate specific rules in the comments of any heated conversations between group members. And this in mind, take the time to recognise and thank members who take it upon themselves remind people of group rules and help maintain your group's culture.
Combine membership questions and group rules to help new members understand the expectations of your group.

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How to Setup Facebook Group Rules

Facebook allows you to create, edit and rearrange up to 10 rules in your group.

Once you've written them, group rules are displayed in the About section of your group. Group rules will also be displayed when a member requests to join your group if it asks membership questions.

How to Add Rules for a Facebook Group

Facebook gives you a dedicated section to help you create and effectively communicate the rules of the group to potential and existing group members.

To create rules for your group:

From your News Feed on Desktop, click Groups in the left menu and select your group. If you don't see Groups, click See More.
Click Group Rules below Moderation in the left menu.
Click Get Started or Create, then click to add from the example rules, or write your own.
Click Create.

To adjust the order in which group rules appear, click the six little dots next to a rule and drag and drop the rules into the order you'd like.

How to Edit Rules of a Facebook Group

From your News Feed, click Groups in the left menu and select your group. If you don't see Groups, click See More.

Click Group Rules below Moderation in the left menu.

Click to the right of the rule and select Edit rule or Delete rule.

How to Tag a Facebook Group Rule in A Comment or Post

Group admins can remind members about the group rules by tagging one or more rules in a comment or post.

If you want to tag a rule in a comment, click Comment below the post you want to comment on. If you want to tag a rule in a post, click What's on your mind? or Create a public post.

Type @, then click the rule or rules that you want to tag in the comment or post.

Facebook Group Basic Rules Examples

Depending on your product, service, or community, some rules will be specific to you and your members. However, the following are a set of example rules that will suit any Facebook group, as suggested by Facebook.

You may want to copy and paste them, pick and choose a few, or re-jig them as needed.

Be kind. Insulting or bullying other members or non-members will get you banned from the group without prior warning.

Be civil. We do not condone foul language. Breaking this rule once will land you a warning. Doing it repeatedly will get you banned.
No advertising. Don’t use the group to advertise yours or someone else’s business, page, fundraiser or website. These posts will be immediately removed and you might get banned.
Use the search option. To avoid cluttering the group, please search the feed before asking a question. Someone might have already asked the same thing before.
Use English only. To make sure all members of the group understand you, please use only the English language.
Stick to the topic. We only allow posts and comments related to the group’s activity. Off-topic content will be removed and you will get a warning.
No spamming. Asking the same question or posting the same comment repeatedly after it has been removed by admins due to rule violation will result in a ban.
Report rule-breaking. If you see a post/comment that violates our rules, report it to the admins — DO NOT verbally attack the author of said post/comment.
Think before you report. Don’t report posts or comments that aren’t breaking any rules just because you don’t like or agree with their content.
Talk to the admin team. If you have any questions or concerns or are experiencing issues in the group, please turn to one of the admins for help. That’s what we’re here for!

Real World Facebook Group Rules Examples

Now let’s look at some real-world examples of Facebook group rules. In each example, I've highlighted some custom-written rules to help inspire your own.

In most cases, these custom rules are written in addition to some of the "one size fits all" rules that I have listed above.

Facebook Group Rules Example 1: TV Show/Entertainment

Here's a snippet from the rules of a group dedicated to the TV series, Game of Thrones. Notice how the admins are strict about keeping the discussion on Game of Thrones only; encourage group members to vent in a peaceful manner, and to refrain from correcting other members' spelling and grammar.

If you aim to have your group to have one particular topic of focus, make sure to specify this clearly in the rules.

Facebook Group Rules Example 2: Parenting

This example is from a group for mums in London. Notice the rule that asks people not to offer medical advice to other members - something I'm sure the admins assumed that they would get a lot of, and would not want in any way to be liable for doing.

If there’s any chance that group members could be discussing anything that could lead to bringing the authorities into things (in a bad way), you might be best off asking people not to bring such topics up.

Facebook Group Rules Example 3: Sports and Fitness

Fitness and Health Facebook group rules examples

Here's a snippet from the rules of a group for people taking part in the Couch to 5K running challenge. Notice particular rules related to preventing people from sharing sponsorship requests, photos of injuries, and asking for advice on dieting and weight loss. See how the group admins are positive in telling people what they can do (DM people about sponsorships rather than posting publicly).

Facebook Group Rules Example 4: Buying and Selling

Buying and selling Facebook group rules examples

Buying and Selling groups are some of the biggest and most hectic on Facebook, so setting out expectations early is essential. In this example for a group focused on selling triathlon gear, notice how admins ask that all sale posts include a price and that no links to products for sale on external sites are allowed.

As we've seen throughout this post, these kinds of rules help to maintain order in the group and keep all members happy.

Facebook Group Rules Example 5: Jobs

These rules were taken from a job group from a big US city. As you can see from rule 3, one of the biggest problems that plague job groups is posts from recruitment agencies.

This particular group has decided to limit job postings from recruitment agencies, but many other job groups have banned them altogether. What you decide to do will depend on your industry, and how big an issue it becomes.

When compiling your rules, think about what specific challenges you might encounter in your group and work them into your rules, so that all members know what is expected of them before they join.

Facebook Group Rules Example 6: Business / Customer Feedback

This snippet is from the rules of a group run by Kyte Baby, a company that sells all kinds of baby clothes and accessories. The purpose of the group is shared in its About section:

“Welcome to Kyte KLUB! Make friends, get exclusive discounts, view sneak peeks, vote on upcoming arrivals and get first dibs on model calls!

Please ask all your sleep safety questions and share your wisdom with fellow Kyte BABY enthusiasts. Plus, get invited to our meet-ups featuring Q&A with local sleep safety professionals, goodie bags and pop-up shops.”

Rules 2 and 3 are important here, for any kind of business - preventing any kind of promotion of competitors or other spammy sales posts. And to keep the discussion harmonious and free of grievances, an instruction to send any customer service inquiries to a separate e-mail address - not to post them in the group.

Facebook Group Rules Example 7: Social Learning / Online Courses

Online course Facebook group rules examples

Let's finish off with an example of something NOT to do. Here's a snippet from a Facebook group that runs online art courses.

I know they're trying to be light-hearted here (and the courses are free, so money isn't an issue), but simply stating there are no rules is kind of asking for trouble!

If you're running a paid online course through Facebook groups, you may want to state certain rules about keeping the course content private (no screen-grabbing, recording, sharing elsewhere, etc.).

Reinforcing the Rules: How to Manage Conflict in Groups

As your Facebook group grows (and despite putting rules into place), inevitably some conversations will boil over and you will need to step in. After all, it is unlikely you can watch your group all the time.

It’s important that you step in when trouble starts brewing, because peaceful group members won’t want to stick around if there’s trouble all the time.

Here are some tips to help you manage conflict in Facebook groups:

Rely on your members to report heated conversations and help moderate the group.
Encourage group members to use the report to admin tool to flag posts that need moderation.
If someone does break a rule, reiterate the rules in the comments and consider closing comments on that thread. That way the person that posted it is definitely going to see it, but there are going to be others that also read that and can be educated about that. Alternatively, you could turn on post approval for a while, then turn it back off when things calm down a bit.
If moderation isn't working, consider temporarily muting the member. Allow some time for the discussion (and the member) to cool down. When all else fails, feel empowered to remove members from your group.
If you see something that goes against Facebook's Community Standards (stuff like nudity, hate speech, threats of violence), report it directly to Facebook.

Facebook Group Rules Examples: Over to You

So, there we have it! Now you have everything you need to know to build a set of group rules that will allow your Facebook community to grow successfully, whatever your interest or industry.

If you have any other ideas about Facebook group rules that you think I’ve missed, let me know in the comments!