WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of its key features is the ability to create groups, allowing users to communicate with multiple people at once. WhatsApp also has a broadcasting feature that enables users to send messages to multiple contacts at the same time. This has led many WhatsApp users to wonder – can you broadcast a poll on WhatsApp to multiple contacts?
Creating polls on WhatsApp
WhatsApp introduced polls in 2017, allowing users to create simple yes/no polls to gather feedback from groups or individual chats. Here are the steps to create a poll on WhatsApp:
- Open the WhatsApp group or individual chat where you want to create the poll.
- Tap on the attach button (paperclip icon) and select the poll option.
- Enter your yes/no question or statement.
- Tap Send. The poll will be shared in the chat.
Once you create a poll, recipients can tap one of two voting buttons to register their vote. You can see a live update of vote tallies so you can track responses in real-time. This makes it easy to gather instant feedback right within a WhatsApp chat.
Broadcasting on WhatsApp
WhatsApp’s broadcast feature allows you to easily send a single message to multiple contacts at once. Instead of selecting each contact manually, you can broadcast to a whole list.
To send a broadcast message on WhatsApp:
- Open the Broadcast Lists tab in WhatsApp.
- Create a new list by tapping “New List” and select the contacts to include.
- Tap “Broadcast” when your list is ready.
- Compose your message and tap send.
This will send your message to everyone in the list simultaneously. It saves the hassle of copy-pasting messages to multiple chats.
Can You Broadcast Polls on WhatsApp?
Unfortunately, while you can create polls and send broadcast messages separately, WhatsApp does not currently allow users to combine these and broadcast polls to multiple contacts at once.
The polling feature only works within the context of an existing chat. There is no option to broadcast a poll across your broadcast lists or contacts. Each poll is confined to the individual or group chat where it was created.
So in summary – yes, you can create polls and broadcast messages on WhatsApp, but you cannot broadcast the polls themselves. Each poll has to be sent manually to each applicable chat.
Workarounds for Broadcasting Polls
While not directly supported, there are some workarounds users have come up with to broadcast polls across groups or chats:
- Copy-paste the poll into multiple chats. This is time consuming but ensures the poll formatting stays intact.
- Take a screenshot of the poll and send the image through broadcast lists.
- List the poll options in a text broadcast message.
- Use a third party polling service and share the poll link through WhatsApp broadcast.
These options allow you to mimic broadcast polls even though WhatsApp doesn’t have built-in support for it yet.
Advantages of Broadcasting Polls
The ability to broadcast polls across WhatsApp would offer several advantages:
- Saves time – Don’t have to manually send the same poll to multiple chats.
- Reach larger audiences – Quickly gather feedback from larger contact lists.
- Centralized data – Results automatically compile in one place for easy analysis.
- Real-time feedback – Get instant input from groups via WhatsApp’s interface.
For organizations, broadcast polls could help quickly gather customer feedback for market research. For personal use, they make it easier to coordinate decision-making across groups and contacts.
Disadvantages of Broadcasting Polls
However, there are also some potential downsides to enabling native broadcast polls:
- Message overload – Recipients may find it annoying or intrusive.
- Limited customization – Less control over audience targeting per poll.
- Less context – Polls shared outside of existing conversations lack context.
- Internal app focus – Data lives within WhatsApp instead of dedicated polling platform.
As with any broadcast messaging feature, there is the risk of irritating recipients with unsolicited content. And conducting polls via WhatsApp limits options for customizing questions and analyzing data.
The Future of Polling on WhatsApp
While not currently possible, WhatsApp may consider adding native support for broadcasting polls in the future. The company is rolling out new features and improvements in its beta program all the time. Expanding the polling feature could allow WhatsApp to compete with dedicated polling apps.
Some other messaging platforms like Telegram and Signal already support broadcast polls as a built-in feature. As user expectations and demands evolve, WhatsApp may follow suit and enable poll broadcasting. But for now, users have to rely on workarounds to mimic the functionality.
Conclusion
In summary:
- WhatsApp lets you create simple yes/no polls in chat but you cannot broadcast them.
- Each poll is confined to the individual or group chat where it was created.
- Workarounds allow you to manually copy polls or share via screenshot.
- Native support for broadcast polls could come in the future.
- For now, polls cannot be directly broadcasted to multiple WhatsApp contacts at once.
So while not directly supported at the moment, it is possible to mimic broadcast polls using some creative workarounds. But there are limitations compared to having the feature built into WhatsApp natively. Fully broadcasting polls is not possible currently but could emerge in a future update.