Although the update is not yet available on all smartphones, it has been enabled in key locations, one of them being Latin America, where it can already be used in 4 countries on the continent.
It was in April of this year when Meta announced that WhatsApp Community, the new messaging app tool, was already being tested on some users. Later, it was deployed in other countries and now Already available in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Colombia,
Paloma Sjerman, policy manager for WhatsApp in Latin America, explains that This new facility began to be built as a result of the pandemic and the rise of “clusters” that grew after confinement. And that it was maintained even when it was abolished in most countries.
“Most of our lives had to move towards ‘online.’ Many of our conversations, our conversations, also meant that many of the WhatsApp groups we used began to require more organic communication,” he explains .
the equipment itself It consists in the creation of a “community”, in which many groups belonging to the same subject can be integrated. For example, the community of a school or a workplace, which includes everything but has internal groups according to spaces, status or rank.
The Germans say “What it does is give us a better organization experienceGives users the ability to organize and aggregate groups related to this common interest”.
How does WhatsApp Community work?
Paloma Szerman emphasizes that this new tool makes it easier for users to stay connected and up-to-date with what’s happening in their everyday places, such as work, university or even the neighborhood they live in. makes.
“what happens Include groups related to common interestsSo naturally groups are more likely to emerge and act organically,” he says.
Although the WhatsApp community brings the bonus of organic communication especially in workspaces, studios or large organizations, Can also be used according to personal or entertainment interests, And that any user can access the tool.
“We identify these groups where it is most obvious that they need biological communication, but the truth is that Anyone who has groups that are related to each other and who are meant to be grouped together can use the tool“, details Szerman.
a safe place
In the app they indicate that There are several features that differentiate WhatsApp Communities from other apps with similar mobility such as Discord, Slack Or even Facebook groups.
so mentions ‘End-to-end encryption’, a security tool that has been protecting WhatsApp users’ conversations for years. In addition, it explains the 2 major components that make up the difference.
“One is Chat or Ad Channelwhich is a place in which only community administrators will be able to share information”, he explains.
This would be a community-only space, which in theory would be created by all members of the community, but only administrators would be able to share announcements, i.e. general messages.
“The second ingredient that he has is ‘group directory’, If I’m a member of a community, I can see which groups make up it and choose to join the one that interests me the most. Always being able to leave those groups without leaving the community”, he remarked.
Along the same lines, “open groups” and “closed groups” were also implemented, the latter being controlled by community administrators, who would decide who could enter those spaces.
Administrators will be responsible for the content
This will be the first time a third party will be able to take control of the content that each user transmits. in app. Being in a community, administrators will have the possibility to eliminate messages they consider “inappropriate” or that are not within the group’s guidelines.
“We did this because we understand that a community manager has additional responsibilities. When we use WhatsApp in groups or communities we do not want to receive a reload of information or communications that we should not receive“, justifies Szerman.
“We thought it was important that administrators have the opportunity to do this. To keep communities as a safe place, a place where certain rules of coexistence are respected“, he adds.
While the update is not yet available on all smartphones, it has been enabled in key locations, one of them being Latin America, where it is already available in 4 countries. “We are now in the final stages of the product rolling out to some users and it will go global soon”, he concluded.
