WhatsApp has unveiled a feature called “Communities”, which allows users to place multiple group conversations together on a topic. Essentially, groups within groups. Announcing the changes, Mark Zuckerberg said it would now be easier to organize talks and find information. The idea first came to light in November, when rumors circulated that WhatsApp wanted to move to a messaging area currently occupied by Slack and Discord. The way it works is that in addition to individual groups, you could also have a whole community (with a community administrator). For example, at school you could have individual groups for different classes or extracurricular activities and then a whole community that would cover all aspects of school life. Community administrators can then share messages with everyone and control which groups can be included. The new feature was triggered by the way people have been using WhatsApp recently as a tool “for close communities to have private chats” in the app. Zuckerberg also hinted at a similar Community function for Facebook, Messenger and Instagram in the future (Image: Meta) WhatsApp has emerged as one of the most popular tools for coordinating with a wider group of people throughout the pandemic. Schools, local clubs and non-profit organizations have started to rely on WhatsApp to collaborate during the many lockdowns around the world. It also meant that some of these groups could become chaotic. The company hopes the new update will help people better structure their teams so they are not bombarded with messages. Before the “Community” feature appears, WhatsApp introduces some enhancements to the Groups themselves. Administrators can now delete messages in group chat, which will be a relief for many. Other changes to group chat include the ability to respond to individual messages, file sharing of up to 2 GB, and voice calls by 32 people. Zuckerberg also hinted at a similar “Community” feature for Facebook, Messenger and Instagram in the future. New updates coming to WhatsApp groups (Image: Meta)
