Need advice

I am new on this website. Could someone just explain a few things to me. I know the answers might be somewhere if I read everything. However i believe that if I ask I might get clear answers and the risk of misuninterpreting something would be almost 0

1) Groups

What bennefits are there to join a group? On the other hand what disadvantages are there for not joining a group? How do I join a group should I decide that I want to join a group?

2 Points

I saw that some poeople have points. How do I earn points?

I would reall appreciate it if someone could assist me with these questions

http://www.chess.com/help.html

http://www.chess.com/search.html

1) you join groups to play in team matches and vote chess matches. also, you can find some people to chat with and that help each other out a lot. cons are you may be forced to play in matches you'd rather not play in, and you might get constant updates from your team that can be annoying.

to join a group, you can search through them all by clicking on "groups" at the top, then "all groups/teams". there are so many different groups to choose from that you're bound to find one that fits you.

2) you earn points every time you make a post.