Official Association Facebook Group

I would not have it directly HOA owned or administered. Think better off it being just a "community" resource. It makes the owners feel a bit "freer" to share their thoughts and opinions. Will get a better feel for the pulse of your neighborhood.

Otherwise people will associate the HOA being "Big Brother". It is very ironic the same people will be in it. Just not having it feel like the HOA is in charge of owns it will be better pill to swallow.

That does not mean can not be a HOA owned one. Just limit the scope of it to directly HOA business. Like education of the rules, meeting information, and general HOA business. Keep out the social side...

David,
There are several problems with this idea. Here are just a few I can think of off the cuff.

1) The Nasty FB page will still be there, and many people like to fight. They will always keep it alive.
2) If the HOA decides a board member or members will moderate. What happens when their board life is over?
3) Is the board member going to monitor the site 24/7? If not, the questions asked at midnight will seem ignored.
4) How do you get the message out that this is the only official site?
5) What if the board member/Moderator makes a inaccurate statement? Does the board own it or the moderator?
6) If someone angry posts on the Official site something that the board does not like, and they delete it are the censoring some voices?
7) what happens when the board member who moderates the site becomes disgruntled and speaks out against the current board? It happens and then once the person leaves the board most people will continue to listen to this person becuase they think they are getting the inside scoop.

In my opinion All social media is cancerous. Very little good happens on those sites. Over the years I have always avoided them, and I am quick to let my community know that the only place to get official news is from our Community Eblasts or by contacting our PM. I also make the point of saying that even if a board member gives you information, they are only speaking for themselves. The board only speaks as a group at regular board meetings about things that are on the agenda.

I have a few board members that are on the social sites, and they do tell me about items that come up from time to time. Our PM does not have access to these sites and only hears about issues when they are contacted.

It sounds like you want to do the right thing but creating another site but remember good things can go bad.

I agree.

This has come up here a number of times. I think the majority agree any association web site should be one-way (information only; no posting allowed) in nature.

Our condo association's attorney strongly recommended that we not go that route.

The bottom line is that the association is legally liable for anything that is posted on an official association website, even if it's only social media. The Zuckerbergs and the Musks of the world can take the high-handed approach of saying that they're not responsible for content posted on their platforms. They can also afford any amount of litigation. If an HOA tried it, they'd get a pat on the head and a "aren't you adorable" and be slapped with a lawsuit that they possibly couldn't afford.

If we still wanted to go that route, the attorney said that the website should be informational only, with no posting allowed by anyone other than board members and possibly the community manager. We also needed to have a Terms of Service agreement and a Privacy Policy that had been drafted by an attorney and that were strictly enforced. And we needed to chat with your insurance agent to make sure we added liability coverage for the site.

Board members and managers already have too much to do, and the last thing they need is to add "playground monitor" to the list of hats that they wear.

In short, you can't achieve what you want to achieve and still protect the association from the consequences of that choice without an unreasonable amount of effort and expense.

(FWIW, I have a couple websites/blogs, one of which deals with condo issues. I have comments turned off on both. They also have Terms of Service agreements and Privacy Policies - because we are a litigious society and any fool on the internet can file a lawsuit claiming they were harmed because they relied on the info they found on your site, even if you have disclaimers out the wazoo stating that your site provides personal opinion only, is not legal advice, and readers should talk to their our lawyers. Having a website can be expensive and time-consuming entertainment.)