WhatsApp to launch ‘Communities’ — more structured group chats with admin controls

Metaisthrowingbillionsofdollarsintobuildingoutthemetaverseasthefutureofsocialnetworking,butinthenearterm,thetechgiantislookingtowardthepowerofmessagingtoconnectusersinamorepersonalway.Onthatfront,thecompanytodayintroduceditsplansforasignificantupdatetoitsWhatsAppmessagingappthatwillallowuserstonownotonlyconnectprivatelywithfriendsandfamily,asbefore,butalsoparticipateinlargerdiscussiongroups,calledCommunities.Thesegroupsaimtoserveasamorefeature-richreplacementforpeople’slargergroupchatswithaddedsupportfortoolslikefilesharing,32-persongroupcallsandemojireactions,aswellasadmintoolsandmoderationcontrols,amongotherthings.

ThefeaturehasbeenunderdevelopmentforsometimeasthenextbigiterationfortheWhatsAppplatform,meanttocapitalizeontheapp’sexistingend-to-endencryptionaswellasusers’growingdesiretojoinprivatecommunitiesoutsideoflargersocialplatforms,likeFacebook.

Inparticular,CommunitiescouldpresentachallengetoothermessagingappslikeTelegram—whichhasrecentlybecomeaprominentplayerincommunicationsrelatedtotheRussia-Ukrainewar—inadditiontootherprivatemessagingplatforms,likeiMessageorSignal,aswellasappslikeGroupMe,Band,Remindandothersusedtocommunicatewithgroups.

“It’sbeenclearforawhilethatthewaywecommunicateonlineischanging,”wroteMetaCEOMarkZuckerberg,announcingthenewsinapostonhispublicFacebookprofile.“Mostofususesocialnetworksandfeedstodiscoverinterestingcontentandstayupdated.Butforadeeperlevelofinteraction,messaginghasbecomethecenterofourdigitallives.It’smoreintimateandprivate,andwithencryptionit’smoresecuretoo,”headded.

ImageCredits:WhatsAppCommunitiesfeatures

ThefeaturemayinitiallyleadtosomecomparisonswithFacebookGroups,amoreprivatenetworkingtoolonFacebookthatnowreaches1.8billionusersonamonthlybasis,perFacebook’smostrecentpublicdata.SimilartoGroups,WhatsAppCommunitieswouldalloworganizations,clubsorschoolstocreatenetworksfortheirmemberstointeractandsharenewsandupdates.AndlikeFacebookGroupsrecentlyadded,Communitiesalsosupporttheabilitytohostsub-groups.

Forexample,avolunteerorganizationcouldcreateasub-groupdiscussionforthoseinvolvedwithaparticularproject,likeafooddrive.Aparentsgroupcouldhostsub-groupsbasedontheirkids’ages.Aschoolcouldincludesub-groupsfordifferentgradesorextracurricularactivities.Aclubcouldhostsub-groupsdedicatedtoplanningtheirvariouseventsandactivities.Andsoon.

ButwhileFacebookGroupsmayseesomeoverlapwithWhatsAppCommunities,thetwoarenotdesignedforthesamepurpose.Facebook’sproductisoftenusedbylarger,otherwisedisconnectedstrangerswhoshareacommoninterest.WhatsAppCommunities,meanwhile,focusonmoreprivateandpersonalgroups—includingthosewheremembersmayalreadybeconnectedinotherways,includingintherealworld.

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ExplainsHeadofWhatsAppWillCathcartofthedifference,“we’rephonenumber-based.”

“Whenyou’reinteractingwithpeopleonWhatsApp,there’sanecessarycomfortwithexchangingyourphonenumberwiththem.Sothatpointstowardscommunitieswhereyouknowthesepeopleinreallife,”hesays.“Maybeyoudon’thaveeveryphonenumberofeveryparentinyourkid’sclass,butyou’recomfortableinteractingwiththeminthatway.”

ImageCredits:WhatsAppCommunities’reactionsfeature

InCommunities,userswillalsobeabletoseethephonenumbersoftheotherswhoparticipateinthesub-groupswiththem,orwhentheyengagewitheachotherone-on-one.ThismakestheproductfeelmorepersonalthansomethinglikeFacebookGroups.

AnotherkeydifferentiatorbetweenCommunitiesandFacebookGroupsisthatthelatterincludesgroupsthatarepublicordiscoverableontheplatform.WhatsAppCommunitiesareneither.ThecompanysaysitwillnotallowuserstosearchforordiscoverCommunitiesonitsservice.Youhavetobeinvitedtothegroupstojointhem.

TogetstartedwithCommunities,adminswillbeabletolinkapre-existinggroupchattothenewfeatureorcreateanewgroupfromscratch.WhatsAppbelievestherearealreadyalargenumberofgroupchatsthatwilleasilymakethetransitiontothemorestructuredCommunitieswhenthefeaturelaunches.

“Wedon’thaveaprecisenumber,butwhenyoutalktopeopleinalotofthecountrieswhereWhatsAppispopular,itisreallyprevalentthatpeoplearenot,atthispoint,justusingWhatsApptotalktotheirfamilyortheirfriends,”saysCathcart.“They’reusingittotalktotheirbossandco-workers.They’reusingitiftheyhavekidsinschools.”

“Whatwe’redoingnowisstartingtobuildfororganizationalusecaseswithintention,”hesays.

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Togrowtheirgroups,adminscanaddmemberstoCommunitiesindividuallyortheycanshareaninvitelink.Helpfully,forclubsandothergroupswherememberscomeandgo,adminshavethepowertoremoveindividualmembersfromaCommunityasneeded.

Plus,onlyadminswillhavethepowertoshareannouncementstoallCommunitymembersthroughthemainannouncementgroup(asit’scalled),whichwillinitiallysupport“severalthousands”ofusers.Communitymembersareonlyabletochatinthesmallergroupstheadminshavecreatedorapproved.

WhatsAppwillalsolimitforwards—awaytosendmessagesthatoftenleadstothespreadofmisinformationandspam.InCommunities,messagesthathavealreadybeenforwardedwillonlybeabletobeforwardedtoonegroupatatime,ratherthanthecurrentforwardlimitoffive.

This,alongwithsubgroups,couldaddresstheproblemofoverloadthathappenstodayinmanygroupchatswhereimportantinformationgetsmissedamidthechatterandirrelevantcontent.

ImageCredits:WhatsAppCommunities’voicecalls

Communitiesadditionallybringothergroupmanagementtoolstomessaging,includingtheabilityforgroupadminstomoderatethecontent.Adminswillbeabletoremoveerrantorproblematicmessagesormediafromeveryone’schat.They’llalsobeabletosharefilesupto2GBtohelpgroupscollaborateandshareinformation.AndCommunitieswillbeabletohostvoicecallswithupto32peopleforthosetimeswhenit’seasiertotalkliveratherthantext,thecompanysays.

Users,too,willhavecontroloverbeingaddedtoCommunities.InWhatsApp’ssettings,userscanalreadydecidewhocanaddthemtoagroupchat;nowthosesamesettingswillapplytoCommunities,too.Userscanreportabuse,blockaccountsandleaveCommunitieswhentheynolongerwishtoparticipate.InCommunities,userscansilentlyleaveagroup,whichdoesn’tnotifytheotherusersasintraditionalWhatsAppchats.

WhileWhatsApppromotesitsend-to-endencryptionasanotherreasontousethenewdiscussionsfeature,thecompanystillhastoovercomeuserhesitancyduetoissuesregardingitslatestattemptatupdatingitsprivacypolicies.Thecompanyfacedbacklashoveritshard-to-understandpolicyupdatelastyear,whichisstillbeingexaminedbysomemarkets’anti-competitionauthoritiesandregulatorybodies,includingintheEUandIndia.

CathcartsaysafterWhatsAppaddedmoreclaritytoitspolicy,a“large,overwhelmingpercentageoftheuserbase” acceptedtheupdate.Anyonewhorefusedjustisn’tabletousethenewfunctionalityrelatedtobusinesses.Communities,henotes,won’trequireanotherpolicyupdateatthistime.

“Thisfitsverycloselywithwhatwe’vebeendoingbefore.Andfromadataperspective,thisisallend-to-endencryptedonthecommunications—[it]worksverysimilartohowgroupshaveworked,”hesays.

Thenewfeatureisnotlivetoday.It’sinitiallybeinglaunchedintoalimitedtestwithselectcommunitiestogainfurtherfeedbackaheadofapublicrollout.WhatsApphasnotsaidwhenthefeaturewillreachthewiderpublic,butnotessomeofCommunities’newfunctionality—likereactions,file-sharing,and32-personcalls—willrolloutsooner.