# Facebook Groups

17 Hacker News commenters recommended Facebook Groups and 11 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend Facebook Groups for niche hobbies and well-organized private groups, though critics say it has gotten worse over time and its search does not work.

## Why people recommend it

- Useful niche and private groups (5 comments): "Some private groups have a ton of useful info that's well organized" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47092085)) "It's mostly crap but there is very useful updates there as well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49282501)) "Private Facebook groups, however, can be genuinely useful." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48774939))
- Good communities overall (4 comments): "both Marketplace and Groups are actually pretty valuable and useful" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50118480)) "FB Groups are one of the best corners of the internet imo." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47168058)) "There are honestly some really good groups on there." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48921660))
- Direct access to owners and members (2 comments): "I could post on my local T1D group looking for long acting and could get 5-10 offers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48351379)) "especially if you want to interact with the owners directly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47493329))

## What people warn about

- Quality has declined over time (2 comments): "I like the FB group UX, but it's definitely gotten worse over time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46857967)) "Facebook Groups are garbage, but everything is in such a degraded state that they might look OK in 2026." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46603289))
- Drew discussion away from open forums (3 comments): "They've put a log-in barrier on various communities, lowering the barrier to entry tech-wise, but forcing people into their ecosystem when forums have existed for years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50118849)) "Facebook groups have destroyed online forums and with that killed long discussions on the internet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48855450)) "sending your traffic to facebook wasn't necessarily the best idea" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48757182))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [late.sh](https://hackerapproved.com/p/late-sh.md): 31 recommend
- [r/LocalLLaMA](https://hackerapproved.com/p/r-localllama-subreddit.md): 20 recommend
- [r/BuyItForLife](https://hackerapproved.com/p/r-buyitforlife-subreddit.md): 6 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.facebook.com/groups/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Facebook Groups", https://hackerapproved.com/p/facebook-groups/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).