Anonymous posts encourage group members to participate safely without revealing their identities.
Problem
Community members are hesitant to participate in Facebook groups because they're concerned about their identities being revealed to others. Some are anxious about meeting new people, afraid to reveal sensitive or embarrassing content, fear bullying or retaliation, or they may be prior victims of abuse or stalking.
These problems result in less overall engagement.
Goals
– Increase engagement in Facebook groups by allowing members to post anonymously.
– Protect the display name, profile picture, and other personal information of the author.
– Allow admins to choose if anonymous posting can be used in their group.
– Drive adoption by informing group admins when anonymous posting is available and prompt them to announce it to members.
– Protect the display name, profile picture, and other personal information of the author.
– Allow admins to choose if anonymous posting can be used in their group.
– Drive adoption by informing group admins when anonymous posting is available and prompt them to announce it to members.
Feedback from prior experiments
An experimental design had previously been enabled in a limited number of groups. From this, our research team gathered valuable feedback from users:
Group members often switched to an anonymous post after starting a draft, but the existing flow forced them to discard their draft.
Admins criticized the button for occupying a fixed space in the compose bar, thus suppressing other post types.
Testing early solutions
I addressed the above issues by moving the entry point to the compose page, thus freeing up space in the compose bar while allowing users to switch to anonymous posts without losing their drafts.
I created multiple design variations, then worked with UX researchers to test these designs with members of prominent Facebook groups.
Users overwhelmingly favored option #1
"That's perfect, that's what I wanted."
"I usually start at the top of the screen. It was honestly the first thing I saw."
"It's right there when you go to create a post."
Final solutions
After learning from group members, I polished the favored design and completed the end-to-end user flows. I consulted with the privacy team and content designers, updating the bottom sheet to better inform members how anonymous posts worked, including tips about protecting their identity.
Creating an anonymous post
Alignment between mobile and desktop
Educating admins and members
To educate admins and boost adoption, I worked with content designers on an informational card that prompted admins to announce the feature to their group. This included a pre-written draft, saving admins the effort of writing their own announcement.
Admins reported that this experience was very useful, and members appreciated the transparency of the resulting announcement post.
"It changed my impression of anonymous posting."
"It gives the do's and don'ts. I like that approach and it's helpful to understand."
"I didn't think I would do this, but since I've been shown how easy it is, I would consider it."
Enabled for all groups on Facebook
Today, anonymous posting is enabled for all Facebook groups. Try it out yourself!
Note: some updates have been made since I left Facebook in 2022.
