New Facebook tool to connect isolated parents in a group

More than 5.5 million people in India are part of active parenting groups on Facebook.

"To help support these communities, we're launching a new Facebook group type – parenting. The new features will make it easier for parents to discover the right communities, and make it safer and easier to engage within them," said Grace Clapham, Head of Community Partnerships APAC, Facebook.

The new parenting group type gives parents new ways to discover and engage with their communities.

When admins select the parenting group type, they will unlock access to three unique features customized to the parenting experience - Anonymous Post, Badging and Mentorship.

To enable members of a parenting group to make sensitive posts without revealing their identity, Anonymous Post are now available in Facebook parenting groups.

"For example, if you're looking to share or receive feedback related to financial concerns or dealing with the loss of a child, posting anonymously can help you easily facilitate those discussions," Facebook said in a statement on Tuesday.

Badges can help members identify themselves to groups members in regards to what stage in the parenting journey they are in.

"We are also expanding our Mentorship feature to all parenting groups who select this group type. Parenting group admins can now choose and create an online mentoring programme, let members sign up and match mentor/mentee pairs," said Facebook.