WhatsApp has announced that they will be launching a series of updates specifically prepared for the communities on the platform. The update will soon be launched on the platform to make communities much larger in the platform.
With the update, owners and creators of groups will be able to control a much larger community within one umbrella. The update was designed in such a way that it helps to make communities much more organized and ensures better communication on the platform.
Before Mark Zuckerberg brought up these updates, owners of groups complained about some features the platform needed. They have been complaining about the number of people allowed in a group.
Earlier this year, Meta rolled out an update that allowed community owners to accept up to 512 people on the platform. With this new update, communities on the platform can take as many as 1024 people. The WhatsApp communities feature will soon be rolled out. It will also allow a major group to have sub-groups and announcement groups and more people to participate in WhatsApp calls.
In addition to what is written above, an initial update allowed users to upload and download large files up to 2 GB. The new feature also allowed admins to delete some messages in a group that violates the purpose of the community.
In a statement released by the company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, "Today we're launching Communities on WhatsApp. It improves groups by enabling sub-groups, multiple threads, announcement channels, and more. We're also rolling out polls and 32-person video calling too. All are secured by end-to-end encryption, so your messages stay private."
Comparisons With Facebook Groups
The new update announced by Mark Zuckerberg on Whatsapp has generated comparisons between the update and Facebook groups. WhatsApp discussion topics are also part of the argument that is propagated.
Both the Whatsapp and Facebook communities have features like file sharing, administrative functionality, and the ability to create sub-groups. Mark Zuckerberg is trying to make WhatsApp in such a way that users will be able to access the same functions that are seen on Facebook. People will now be able to connect with total strangers and discuss issues and interests.
While Facebook is a platform that does not majorly need phone numbers, you need to have the phone number of the person you need to talk to on WhatsApp. Mark Zuckerberg has promised that the new update that will be rolled out on WhatsApp will now compromise their end-to-end encryption.
The WhatsApp update that will be released soon will not allow those who don't know you to have access to your phone number.
While speaking on the issue of WhatsApp privacy last year in January, Mark Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp is the most secure messaging platform in the world. From time to time, the billionaire has taken a dig at iPhone's iMessage.
"First and foremost, people care if their conversations stay private, but after that, people also care about safety and other convenience too. And from this perspective, WhatsApp and the direction that we’re heading in with Messenger are the best private social apps available. Now, we have a lot of competitors who make claims about privacy that are often misleading," Zuckerberg said in January 2021.
WhatsApp has Raised the Bar for Other Messaging Apps
With the updates that WhatsApp will release on their platform, it becomes a challenge for other messaging apps to keep up with their trend, or else WhatsApp will take a much larger chunk of the market.
Besides China, WhatsApp is easily the biggest messaging-social media platform in the world. iMessage, GroupMe, and other standard messaging apps will have to keep up with the bar WhatsApp has set. They have to aim to allow users to create much larger communities than they already have.
Especially for iMessage, WhatsApp has been using the issue of end-to-end encryption to taunt the Apple messaging platform.
Whatsapp has said that the messaging platform is "aiming to raise the bar for how organizations communicate with a level of privacy and security not found anywhere else."
"The alternatives available today require trusting apps or software companies with a copy of their messages – and we think they deserve the higher level of security provided by end-to-end encryption," Whatsapp stressed.
With what Whatsapp is doing, iMessage and others need to up their game, or they will forever be lost in the market.
The Major Features to Expect in the New WhatsApp Communities Update
A WhatsApp download or update will allow you to enjoy the features that Whatsapp will release on its platform. About four major features WhatsApp will release that will change how a messaging app is perceived to be like.
- New Structure and Organisation
The focal point of the new Whatsapp update lies in the new structure and organization.
A WhatsApp group can now have an announcement group and other sub-groups. The announcement group will be where all the important announcements of the community will be written.
Also, different Whatsapp discussion topics can now be discussed in the subgroups. Another important thing is that certain persons can only be allowed in a subgroup. For instance, if a subgroup is only for the executives of an organization, only the executives will be allowed there.
However, there will still be a general group where everyone can come together to discuss.
- Higher File Sharing
The new update Mark Zuckerberg will release on his messaging platform will be massive as it will increase the size of files that can be shared on the platform by 2 GB. Previously, the largest file that could be shared on the messaging app was just 100 MB. Although Zuckerberg released this update earlier this year, it will be integrated into the new communities.
- Increased Video Call and Group Participation
Also, regarding video calls and any other form of call on the platform, as many as 32 people can participate. Also, for the number of people allowed in a group, as many as 1014 people can stay in one group. This is an increase from the previous 512.
- In chat polls and Admin Functions,
Admins in Whatsapp groups can now exercise more rights and functions, including deleting inappropriate messages for their platform.