WhatsApp today is officially launching Communities, the new feature offering larger, more structured discussion groups that first entered into testing earlier this year. Designed to help organizations, clubs, schools and other private groups better communicate and stay organized, Communities bring a number of new feature to the messaging platform, including admin controls, support for sub-groups and announcement groups, 32-person voice and video calls, larger-file sharing, emoji reactions and polls.
Communities themselves can support groups of up to 1,024 users and offer end-to-end encryption.
Some of the features developed for Communities, like emoji reactions, large-file sharing (up to 2GB) and the ability for admins to delete messages, had already made their way to the WhatsApp platform ahead of today’s launch. Now, the company says polls, 32-person video calls and larger group sizes will also be supported on WhatsApp more broadly outside of Communities.https://jac.yahoosandbox.com/1.3.0-rc.1/safeframe.html
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The new feature may initially draw some comparisons with Facebook Groups, as they both support things like sub-groups, file sharing, admin functionality and more. But while Facebook Groups are often used by disconnected strangers who share a common interest, WhatsApp Communities are meant to be used by members who may already be connected in the real world. Unlike on Facebook, WhatsApp is phone number-based, meaning people joining these discussion groups already have some familiarity with one another, as they may have exchanged phone numbers or at least have shared their number with a group admin. However, the phone numbers will be hidden from the wider Community and only made visible to admins and others in the same sub-groups as you.
This is meant to balance users’ demand for privacy with the need to allow fellow group members to reach you. For instance, you may not personally know every parent on your kid’s sports team, but you’re likely comfortable interacting with them in a private group setting that may exist as a sub-group of the entire school’s Community.
In addition, unlike Facebook Groups, which can be discoverable on the platform, WhatsApp Communities are hidden. There will not be a search and discovery feature available — you have to be invited to join.
