Some members of a popular Facebook group for Canberra mums have been left shocked after finding out the community, which specifically states it's only for women, has been administered by a Sydney-based man who runs a digital media company. An expert says it's a "grey area" because while it's not a problem for businesses to run such groups, members need to know exactly what they're signing up for. Two Canberra mums have started their own local Facebook group which they hope to keep as a supportive, safe space for locals.
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00:00Pregnant with now six-month-old baby Annabelle, and with her family overseas, first-time Canberra
00:08mum Morgan turned to social media for support, advice and reassurance.
00:12It's such a time of change and it's a very unique thing to go through.
00:17You know, your body changes, your relationship changes, you're anticipating what's coming,
00:23so it's just really reassuring finding people going through the same thing.
00:27One of the Facebook groups she signed up for was Canberra Mums Group.
00:31With 13,500 members and an explicit ban on anyone other than women signing up, Morgan
00:37assumed it was run by a local Canberra mum.
00:40Recently, however, members have found out it's actually operated by a Sydney-based
00:45digital media company, with a man listed as the public administrator.
00:49They've also found out it operates on a subscription-based model where businesses can pay hundreds of
00:54dollars a month to advertise within the group, and any other marketing is banned.
00:59That's something some members say they weren't previously aware of.
01:03We've got babies we're talking about, so if something is monetised, I wanted to be aware
01:07from the start.
01:09Motherhood is very unfamiliar for all of us, and you join a group for the support of mothers
01:14and to find out that potentially there's monetising in our trauma and our experiences, that's
01:20a bit more uncomfortable.
01:21The group admin, Jonathan Deutscher of On Topic Media, says he's been in the business
01:26of managing social media channels, including the Mums Group and a handful of others around
01:31the country and overseas, for more than a decade.
01:35He says group members may have seen clearly labelled messages from sponsors in the Facebook
01:40groups, and these sponsors help fund the admins needed to manage the groups.
01:45And he says he uses his Facebook account as a public admin to ensure the group stays secure
01:51and functional.
01:52An expert says while there's nothing wrong with businesses running online groups in principle,
01:57and many do, it's important members are aware of what's going on.
02:01I can completely understand how everybody in that group feels let down and does feel
02:06like they want to move on.
02:08It does have a huge ick factor.
02:10Both mums have decided their best bet was to make a new group, one they say will be
02:15all about supporting local mums and run by local mums.
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