Creating a
Facebook Page
for your community’s
DBSA Chapter
Creating a Facebook Page for your community’s DBSA Chapter
Table of Contents
Why Facebook? ............................................................................................................................................. 2
How can I create a page? ............................................................................................................................. 2
How do I edit my page? ................................................................................................................................ 4
How do I add events and support group meetings?..................................................................................... 6
How do I add or change a profile picture for my Facebook Page? ............................................................... 9
How do I add a phone number or website to my Page? .............................................................................. 9
How can I remove an information field that I don't want appearing on the Page I admin? ........................ 9
How can I create a direct website link for my Page? .................................................................................... 9
How do I invite friends to my Page? ............................................................................................................. 9
What is the difference between Published and Unpublished? .................................................................... 9
Protecting confidentiality policies while using Facebook ........................................................................... 10
How to report Facebook users who may be suicidal .................................................................................. 10
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Why Facebook?
Facebook has proven to be an invaluable resource for individuals and organizations in the past several
years. People of all ages join Facebook to connect. DBSA Chapters can connect with their current
participants, find new participants and advertise meetings and other special events by using Facebook.
In an effort to help DBSA Chapters create their own Facebook page, we have created the following
guide. You can visit www.Facebook.com/DBSAAnytown to see an example of what your Chapter
Facebook page can look like.
How can I create a Page?
If you already have a Facebook account, you can create an organization page that is linked to your
existing account. While logged in to your Facebook account, scroll to the footer of the Facebook page
and you will see a link to “Create a Page”. Click this link and follow the steps outlined below.
If you do NOT have a Facebook account, you can create an organization page by going here:
www.Facebook.com/pages/create.php. Follow the steps outlined below.
1. Click on “Company, Organization or Institution”.
3. Select Non-Profit Organization and type your chapter name “DBSA __________” into the
“Company Name” blank.
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4. Read the terms of use and then select the check box to show you have read and agree to the
terms of use. Click on “Get Started.”
5. If you are not currently logged in to a Facebook account, you will be prompted to log in to an
existing Facebook account or create a new one. If you do not currently have a Facebook account,
please select "I do not have a Facebook account." Enter your email address and date of birth.
6. Select a photo by clicking on Upload and Image and selecting a photo, such as your chapter logo.
Click on Continue.
7. If you already had a Facebook account, you can invite your existing Facebook friends to your
chapter page by clicking on the “Invite Friends” link. You may also “import contacts” from your
email accounts or by manually entering email addresses by clicking on “import contacts.” Click on
“continue.” People do not need to be invited in order to view your page and your page will not be
limited to Facebook members. Anyone will be able to visit your Facebook page, but only Facebook
members can post messages to the page.
8. On the next page you can include a website address if your chapter has one and include a short
description of the chapter. As an example:
DBSA Anytown is an independent, local affiliate of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
(www.DBSAlliance.org). DBSA Anytown offers two weekly support groups for people living with
depression and bipolar disorder and one support group for family and friends that meets twice a
month.
Peer Support Groups
Tuesdays and Wednesday evenings from 7-9pm
730 N Franklin St, Chicago, IL
Room 501
Friends and Family Support Groups
2nd and 4th Thursdays from 7-9pm
730 N Franklin St, Chicago, IL
Room 501
By participating in the group meetings, you will meet people from our community who can relate to
your experiences. You can learn valuable information about mental health professionals and services
in our area , as well as tips and techniques others use to manage their illness.
In addition to our support groups, DBSA Anytown also offers a monthly educational session and a
lending library.
How do I edit my page?
1. Click on “Edit Page” in the upper right hand corner of your Facebook page. The “Manage
Permissions” page will open. On this page you can select whether the page is published (see
information on page 9), who can post messages to the page, etc. Select “Save Changes” at the
bottom of the page when you are done making changes.
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You can edit additional information by clicking on “Basic Information” in the left hand column of the
page. On this page (image on next page) you can provide contact information for the group, insert a
mission statement and also create a Username for the Facebook page so that people can easily get to
the page (see “Securing direct website link” section on page 9.)
You may wish to include a link or information on how individuals can make donations to the chapter on
this page. PayPal has a special “app” for Facebook, called FundRazr. You can learn more about this
application at http://fundrazr.com/paypal.
Click “Save Changes” when you are done.
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How do I add events and support group meetings?
1. Click on “Edit Page” in the upper right hand corner of your Facebook page. Click on “Apps” on the left
hand sidebar.
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2. Click on “Go to App” under the Events icon in the middle of the page.
3. Enter the event name. (For example: Peer Support Group)
4. Set the date and time. Click on “Add end time” if you would like to indicate how long the meeting will last.
5. Add the location of the meeting. Be as specific as possible.
6. Enter any details that will be helpful to individuals coming to the meeting (parking instructions, directions,
who the meeting is for, etc.)
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7. DBSA recommends un-selecting “show the guest list on the event page” for confidentiality reasons.
8. If you want, you can also add a photo by clicking on “Add Event Photo” under the photo-box on the left
hand side of the page.
9. Click on “Create Event” when you are done entering information.
Once you have created your first event, you will be able to add additional events by:
1.
Click on the “Events” tab on the left hand column of your Facebook page.
2. Click on “Create Event” in the upper right hand corner of your page (see image on next page.)
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How do I add or change a profile picture for my Facebook Page?
To add a profile picture for your Facebook Page:
1. Click Edit Page in the upper-right corner of your Page
2. Select Profile Picture in the left sidebar
3. Click Choose File and select a photo to upload from your computer
How do I add a phone number or website to my Page?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click Edit Page in the upper-right corner of your Page
Select Basic Information from the left sidebar
Write a phone number in the Phone section and a web address in the Website section
Click Save Changes
How can I remove an information field that I don't want appearing on the Page I created?
You can remove an information field by deleting the content within that field.
How can I create a direct website link for my Page?
As the creator of the Facebook page, you can choose a direct website link (such as
www.Facebook.com/DBSAAnytown) for your page at http://www.Facebook.com/username.
How do I invite friends to my Page?
Go to your Page and click Invite Friends on the right-hand column. Use the dropdown menu to choose a
list or select Search All Friends. Next, scroll through your friends and check the boxes next to the names
of the people you want to invite. You can also search for friends in the menu's search box. When you're
done selecting friends, be sure to click Submit to send your friends invitations to your Page.
What is the difference between Published and Unpublished?
Once you have filled out your Facebook Page, it will be automatically published and will be visible to any
Facebook user.
You can unpublish your Page at any time. Setting your Facebook Page to unpublished will hide it from all
users, including people who like your Page. Your Page will only be visible to the administrators of the
Page while it in unpublished. Your Page will not be visible to users until you set it back to published. You
can unpublish your Page in the Settings section of Edit Page at any time.
If your Facebook Page is unpublished, you will see a dialog at the top of your Facebook Page indicating
that your Page is not currently visible to users. There is a link there to Publish Your Page. This will
instantly set your Facebook Page to published and make it visible to all users. You can also publish your
Page from the edit Page section.
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Protecting confidentiality policies while using Facebook
While Facebook can be a great way to announce events and make social connections, it can also create
new confidentiality issues. While it may not be malicious in nature, it's easy for participants to slip up
and make comments about something that happened at a support group meeting or accidently indicate
who's participating in the support group. These accidents can lead to hurt feelings, misunderstandings
and even serious confidentiality breaches.
It is very important to speak with your community's chapter participants about confidentiality within
social media outlets, such as Facebook. In order for participants to feel safe in our support groups,
confidentiality is key. You can help protect participants’ privacy.
1. Remind participants that it is not ok to post comments on discussions from support group
meetings or make comments about who was in attendance on your Facebook page.
2. Make sure you un-select “show the guest list on the event page” when creating events.
3. You can disallow any posting on your Facebook page by visiting the “Mange Permissions” tab
and unselecting “People can write or post content on the wall.” and “People can add photos and
videos.” However, if you do this, only the owner of the page will be able to post to your
Facebook page. If you are allowing all visitors to post comments, you may wish to add a
confidentiality reminder on your Facebook page.
How to report Facebook users who may be suicidal
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline recently partnered with Facebook to offer crisis services via chat
so that people in distress can more easily access the support that they need.
You may report concerns of a user feeling suicidal when you are scrolling on that user’s comments.
1. From your newsfeed, click on the user’s name to go to their page. When you are on the user’s page,
click on the downward pointing arrow in the upper right-hand of the comment. It will only appear
after you scroll over the comment. Click on the downward arrow and you will see the following box.
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2) Click on report story or spam and you will see a message that says, “This story has been marked as
spam. Undo If this story is abusive, please file a report.”
3) Click the option to report. The following screen will pop-up. Check the “Violence or harmful behavior”
field and scroll down to “Suicidal Content.”
Click continue. Your report will be sent to Facebook and reviewed by the Safety Team, who may send
the person who posted the suicidal comment an e-mail encouraging them to call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or to click on a link to begin a confidential chat session with a
crisis worker.
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