Messaging to more than two billion users around the world continues to evolve. Next step: communities, a function capable of bringing together thousands of people, like a social network.

Messaging to more than two billion users around the world continues to evolve. Next step: communities, a function capable of bringing together thousands of people, like a social network.

Surely you know Facebook groups? This is a function of the social network allowing, for example, the inhabitants of an entire district or a city, the members of an association spread across the world or even all those who share a common cause to communicate easily among themselves and to pass on information to all members. It is this principle that Meta wants to integrate into WhatsApp. The firm is currently testing this new function which will take the form of a tab called Communities (communities in French) in the application. We also find this device in Discord or in Teams from Microsoft. In WhatsApp, communities can be divided into groups allowing the administrator to address all or part of them. The function could, for example, be useful for bringing together all the students and/or parents of students in a high school or college. The principal, who is also an administrator, will thus be able to pass on important information to all of the students in his or her establishment or to certain classes only.

And nothing prevents members from establishing group chats inside the communities. On the other hand, it is impossible for the members of a group within a community to address the whole of it. This right is reserved for the administrator. On the security side, Meta would like to clarify: “Communities are inherently private, which is why we will continue to protect messages with end-to-end encryption. This security technology has never been more necessary to protect privacy. and personal safety”. In a short video posted on Twitter on Thursday, April 14, WhatsApp presents what the Communities function can do for residents of the same building (with the pretext of the equivalent of our neighbors’ party).

Additional new features

WhatsApp does not forget its fundamentals: messaging and especially groups. In addition to the Communities function, the firm is planning some changes for group discussions. It will be possible to react to messages with simple emoticons (as can be done for example with the iOS Messages app). The goal is not to overload a discussion thread with useless messages. Additionally, group admins will also be able to delete messages from any group member in a chat. Added to this is the possibility for each member to attach files (up to 2 GB in size). Finally, voice calls within a group can accommodate up to 32 participants.

Not all of these new WhatsApp features will arrive at the same time. The new group-related features will begin rolling out for full-scale testing in the coming weeks, the firm says. The Communities function should see the light of day later in the year.