Facebook is the world’s largest online social network. It has over a billion users attached to it. It provides you with several options to make your online presence felt. You can have a Facebook profile, page or a group to engage with your friends and general public.
But unfortunately most FB users are either unaware of these options or they don’t use them in the right way. Let’s learn what are the differences between Facebook profile, Facebook page and a
Facebook group.

When you create a fresh account –Facebook automatically allots you a profile. A profile is the place where you write information about yourself (e.g. name, date of birth, place where you live, your interests, contact information etc). Then your friends come and connect their profiles with your profile –this makes you their Facebook friend. In a profile, you cannot have more than 5000 friends (as on 30 September 2014). Facebook profile is a tool to present yourself as a person in a circle of friends.

By default you get a profile –but later you can also create a Facebook page. But before creating a page –you should know why one should create a page.

• Facebook page is more like an official profile.
• It is created to project more of your professional side.
• Logically, anyone in world is the target audience of your page. Your profile is for your friends but your page is for the world at large. Anyone can come to like and follow it.
• Earlier the connection was established using the term fan (i.e. someone is becoming a fan of yours if s/he joins your page). Later, Facebook changed the relationship term from fan to “Like”. So, now people like a page and befriend a profile.
• Soon, Facebook might come up with better relationship terms for you to connect with a page.
• Unlike a profile, a page can have unlimited connections.
• Pages are usually created for a public figure, brand or business/organization.

So, do you think you are a public figure? If yes, then go ahead and make for a Facebook page for yourself. If you have a business/organization –create a page for it –but don’t leave it blank (as most people do). You should create a Facebook page if you are serious about promoting and maintaining it.

SEE ALSO: Get Facebook Page or Profile ID

Some Facebook users create a page when they reach the limit of having 5000 friends. Well, this is technically incorrect. Do you really think those 5000 people are your friends? Most likely, the answer would be no. If you’re hitting the upper limit of 5000 friends, you should review your friend list and remove those friends whom you don’t know. It is important to simplify your Facebook life.
A Facebook page should be created only if you want to it for an organization, place, entity or if you’re really a public figure.

After having created a Facebook account, you can also create a Facebook Group. A groups is a gathering of like-minded people on Facebook. You should not force people to join your group. At present, Facebook allows you to add people to your groups without taking their permission. This might increase the number of members very quickly -but trust me most of these people will get irritated with you! You should just write about your group on your wall and let people decide whether to join it or not.
Those who do not join a group by their own wish, they will either leave the group or will remain idle. None of these situations are good for a group. Don’t waste your time by running a group that is not popular among its users.

• A group always has an objective and discusses issues related with a specific subject.
• There is no upper limit on the number of members. You can have any number of people in the Facebook group.
• A Facebook group can be Open, Closed or Secret types:
  • Anyone can join an open group. Even without joining the group, people can see your group, members and all the posts.
  • In a closed group, outsiders can only see the list of members but they cannot see the posts made in the group
  • A secret group is completely closed to the outside world. Non-members cannot see the member list or posts.

Facebook groups allow you certain facilities like uploading files for users. These groups are essentially discussion forums where people exchange ideas.
So, these were the difference between Facebook profile, page and a group. It is very easy to waste a lot of time on sites like Facebook. I would recommend that you don’t go overboard in using social networking sites. Just use the facilities that are right for you. If you make pages, profiles and groups just for the sake of it, you will soon begin to feel burdened.