"I was just at the rail shops and (saw) a homeless man who was in great need of a shower and new clothes. When I came out of the shop he was gone," she wrote.

The response from fellow residents was swift and heartfelt. In 159 comments, the group had tracked down the man and organised to get him a sleeping bag, a tent, new clothes, food and cash.

"He said he'd never had so much kindness in his life," said Maryann Whiffen, who founded Albion Park Community & Buy, Sell Or Trade Notice Board in 2016 so that residents could discuss a spate of break-ins in the area.

It's times like this that remind her why she loves being an "admin", despite the constant drama that comes with maintaining the peace in a group of 17,000 people.

The volunteer role involves keeping conversations on topic, watching out for abusive comments, deleting problems, monitoring the inbox and, with closed groups, responding to membership requests. It's all largely thankless and time-consuming work that Ms Whiffen kept up even as she was receiving treatment for bladder cancer.

"The best part for me - and there are many - is when we make a difference, and change people's lives for the better," she said. "The worst is when I'm sitting in a waiting room getting cancer treatment and people are complaining about their post or comment being deleted."

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Every main hub between Kiama and Helensburgh has a community Facebook group dedicated to keeping the locals in the know. None of them would exist if the good didn't outweigh the bad.

But when it's bad, it's awful. Admins are abused on a regular basis, blamed for everything that goes wrong and bullied by retaliation groups that routinely spring up. They are constantly putting out fires, mostly started by snarky comments and inexplicable attacks on the most innocuous posts. Sometimes it's a heat-of-the-moment thing, other times it's just someone feeling wickedly trollish, picking fault in everything and everyone. And it's exhausting keeping it under control.

After four years, Ms Whiffen says this part of the job has become easier over time.

"The skin gets tougher," she said. "But in the early days I wanted to give up all the time from the constant complaining and unhappiness of how we run the group. I think to date there are three groups of unhappy members who have started their own Albion Park Community 2.0 groups to bag us out."

Setting up a renegade Facebook group is a common tactic used by disgruntled former members and one with which Anne Millard is painfully familiar.

Ms Millard set up the Kiama Community Page on February 10, 2015, the night a power outage plunged the municipality into darkness.

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Five years on, she has more than 12,000 members and some battle scars from the bullying that occurs, the lack of respect for others and the negativity that can pervade the group.

Facebook has given admins tools to manage this bad behaviour - being able to hide comments, delete comments, remove or mute members are among them - and Ms Millard is unapologetic about using them.

"I don't like having to control some conversations - but I know from experience that people can be harmed if controls are not put into place," she said. "Some think nothing of encouraging vigilantism or labelling people and naming and shaming them. That horrifies me."

Over the years, Ms Millard has been on the receiving end of some vicious personal attacks from members who rage against any suggestion they pull their head in.

"There is no-one more indignant and self-righteous than someone who has been removed from the group and the first thing they will do is abuse you and then whinge about you publicly in other groups. It's like a schoolyard," she said.

"You've got these strangers in a group discussing you and talking about you like you're some horrible person because they didn't want to follow the guidelines or disagreed with your way of managing it. Astounding.

"I even contacted the police at one point to ask their advice on how to manage this bullying. It took a toll on me mentally."

Sometimes splinter groups that start out in spite end up finding an audience, which was the case with What's Happening Dapto And Surrounds.

Irish-born Julie O'Loughlin formed a new group when the existing one became "hellbent against a proposed jail in Dapto".

"They kept deleting all the posts from people who wanted the jail, so like a child I said: 'get stuffed, I'll make my own group' and it went from there," she said. She now has more than 6700 members.

"I'm quite popular in Dapto as there's four of us in my family, so we know everyone and everyone's inboxing all the time, telling me who's who and what's what, so I've got to ring Crime Stoppers quite a bit and report people in (disturbing) videos.

"We're like counsellors; the amount of inboxes I get for help is unreal ... I've gone to Bellambi to drop off toilet rolls."

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The mother-of-four recently split from the father of her four kids (aged six, nine, 15 and 18) and has not worked since she was assaulted at her bar job two years ago. She believes the page has kept her going by giving her something to look forward to.

Bolstered by the support of her online community, Ms O'Loughlin is unfazed by any criticism levelled at her.

"I've had a man send me horrible threats to my personal page calling me so many names," she said. "It used to upset me but I turn it on them by sharing the abuse, so people now know that I'll share it and make them look stupid.

"I block smartarses and people having a go at others' opinions, I've stopped the C-word and a few weren't happy but it's instant block and we haven't seen any since."

Ms O'Loughlin recently teamed up with Darren Malone, the man behind Illawarra Weather Warnings and Local Media Info, to work on some new Facebook ideas for the suburb, including an online Neighbourhood Watch group to stamp out what she describes as rising crime in the area.

"It's needed - a lady got broken into three times over three days," she said. "It's madness."

"Darren went searching for a missing teen once and found them ... he's like me, we take it serious."

The work takes its toll. Ms Millard has stepped back from the admin role on two occasions when the stress became too much but both times she was lured back by the friendships, the shared knowledge, the laughs and the interesting stories - and fellow admins who support her and share the load.

"I love the people who participate and join in with fun banter, who offer a helping hand or a word of hope to someone. I love the animals that are reunited with their frantic owners and the feeling that we are all part of a community."

This community spirit was on full display recently as residents came to grips with a string of suicides in the area.

"Hundreds and hundreds of people connecting through our group and offering support in any way they could," Ms Millard said.

"Post after post of people speaking from their heart, offering support, donating to the cause, and showing amazing community spirit.

"Our group is the original, the largest and - you might say that I am biased - the best page in our local area. It's growing faster than it ever has and the mood is largely positive. There is a different feel to the page now.

"I think people in general are a little more positive on social media. Fingers crossed anyway."

Ms Whiffen had to have her bladder removed as part of her cancer treatment but was last year given the all clear.

"When I was first diagnosed I met a young man who has since passed," she recalled.

"He said to me 'It doesn't matter what you have, it matters what you leave behind.' If some good comes out of the group then it's worthwhile.

"Albion Park is in the sticks, we would be forgotten. Because of the group we have a connection to our neighbours. We have help if we need it. Sometimes a place to have a laugh. We have a voice - direct access to government and council members and so much more."

Cherie Hamilton is the founder of the 6800-strong Facebook group Woonona/Bulli Community.

I put the page together back in 2016. We had moved down from Sydney in 2013 and because we didn't know many people I thought it would be a great idea to be able to connect with the community on buying, selling and swapping items, seeing what local businesses had to offer and trying to help support local businesses as much as possible, as well as the neighbourhood safety side.

I had no idea of the interest so I started with just Edgewood Estate in Woonona as that is where I live, then I realised the broader community of Bulli & Woonona were interested and how much it could benefit others so I changed it over the Woonona/Bulli Community Page.

At the beginning I had no rules to join and really had no idea how fast it would grow. I realised quickly I had a responsibility to maintain control of the quality of the group and try to keep it as local as possible and not too much spam and negativity.

I now have controls that you must have had a Facebook page for longer than 12 months and answer to very basic questions: the suburb you live and if you agree to our community group rules. One of the biggest reasons we did this was because we were having loads of fake profiles joining and creating a lot of hate and negativity and that is definitely not what we want.

I love having the page and seeing it help people whether it is new people moving to the area getting tips and ideas on where to go, people finding lost pets or keys or a small local business being able to market direct to potential clients.

Most of the time it runs quite smoothly. I do have a facility on the group that people can report comments or posts as I can't possibly be over all interactions. I try to use a very level, equal understanding with responding, keeping in mind people must have freedom of speech - but we also don't condone bullying or racism.

Any time I have ever had to pull anyone up on comments or posts they have really been totally fine and understood - sometimes we just need to take a moment before responding so it is with a level head and not irrational.

I do spend time on it daily but if it keeps our neighbourhood friendly, safe and promotes positivity and helps our small business owners I'm happy to continue. I love where we live and our community is fantastic, so let's keep it up and just keep making it better!

Recently ISO (COVID- 19 lockdown) brought out some lovely moments of people wanting to help out but it also brought out people being aggressive and rude online. I'm sure this is due to people being scared and unsure what's happening, but I had to take control back for a while, approving posts and asking for people to report any comments that were too much.

I really hope we can make our community page bigger, stronger and really promote kindness and loyalty amongst our neighbours residentially and commercially.

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