Groups are chats with many concurrent participants. Public groups show your real XMPP ID. When you join a public group, a server that hosts group fetches your avatar and username from your vCard and sets them as your name in this group.
Here is what you need to know about public groups:
- Your XMPP address is visible to all participants;
- Sometimes, this can possibly lead to spam issues;
- You can set separate name and avatar for yourself;
- If you change name or avatar of your XMPP account, they will automatically change in public groups, unless you've set up a custom name or avatar for the group;
- Group administrators can block, mute and restrict participants.