WhatsApp communities are a new way for groups to organize on WhatsApp that will be rolling out in 2022. Communities will contain multiple groups under one umbrella to organize groups better and keep them private. This feature has been highly anticipated by WhatsApp users.
What are the benefits of WhatsApp communities?
There are several key benefits to using WhatsApp communities:
- Organize related groups together – Communities allow you to organize all your related groups together under one umbrella. For example, you can have all your family groups or work groups together in one community.
- Keep groups private – Communities will have private subgroups that can only be accessed through an invite link. This allows you to keep groups private and secure within the community.
- Send announcements across communities – Admins will be able to send announcements to all groups in the community at once.
- Control subgroups – Admins will be able to delete unwanted or problematic subgroups within their community.
Who can create a WhatsApp community?
WhatsApp communities can only be created by WhatsApp group admins. To start a community, a group admin must:
- Open an existing WhatsApp group that they are an admin of
- Tap the new communities tab at the top
- Provide a name and description for the community
- Start adding related WhatsApp groups to the community
Once the community is created, the admin can then start creating private subgroups within the community as needed. Other WhatsApp users cannot join a community unless invited by the admin.
How do you join a WhatsApp community?
Since communities are private, the only way to join one is to be invited by a community admin. Here is how joining a community works:
- The community admin generates a private invite link for the community.
- The admin then shares this invite link with the user they want to invite.
- The user clicks on the invite link on their device to join the community.
- After joining, the user will be able to see all groups and subgroups within the community.
Admins can revoke invite links at any time to control who is able to join their community. Users cannot ask to join a community on their own – they must always be invited.
How do you create subgroups within a WhatsApp community?
Community admins can create private subgroups within their communities for focused topics. Here are the steps to create a subgroup:
- Open the WhatsApp community as an admin
- Tap the “New subgroup” option at the top
- Choose members to add from your WhatsApp contacts
- Give the subgroup a name and description
- Tap Create to finalize the subgroup
The new subgroup will be visible within the community. Other community members will only see it if they are added as participants. Admins can delete subgroups at any time.
How do you send announcements in a WhatsApp community?
Community admins have the ability to send broadcast announcements to all groups in the community at once. Here are the steps:
- Open the WhatsApp community as an admin
- Tap the Announcement option at the top
- Compose your announcement in the message field
- Select all the groups you want to send it to
- Tap Send to broadcast the announcement
The announcement will be sent as a message to all selected groups simultaneously. This allows important community alerts to be efficiently shared.
How do you manage members in a WhatsApp community?
As a community admin, you have control over managing members. Here are some tips:
- Add trusted members as admins – Assign other trusted members as admins to help manage the community.
- Carefully select members when creating subgroups – Only add relevant members to each subgroup to keep conversations focused.
- Revoke invite links – Revoke invite links that have been shared publicly or to the wrong people to prevent unwanted joins.
- Delete disruptive subgroups – Admins can delete any subgroups with problematic members or conversations.
- Remove member access – Remove members from the community or specific subgroups if they violate rules.
Using these admin tools responsibly allows you to maintain positive and productive communities.
What are the limits for WhatsApp communities?
To ensure good performance, WhatsApp has implemented the following limits for communities:
- Up to 50 subgroups per community
- Up to 5000 members per subgroup
- Up to 100,000 members per community
Additionally, each WhatsApp user can be a participant in up to 10 unique communities simultaneously.
What are best practices for using WhatsApp communities?
Here are some best practices for effectively leveraging WhatsApp communities:
- Establish community rules and guidelines upfront
- Appoint multiple admins to share the workload
- Regularly engage members by cross-posting between groups
- Use announcements judiciously for important updates
- Organize subgroups around specific topics and interests
- Moderate inappropriate content quickly and remove disruptive members if needed
- Promote an inclusive and positive community culture
How are WhatsApp communities different from groups?
WhatsApp communities have several key differences from regular WhatsApp groups:
| Communities | Groups |
|---|---|
| Contains multiple related subgroups | Standalone discussion group |
| Admins can send announcements to all subgroups | No announcement feature |
| Private subgroups require invites to join | Groups allow public links for anyone to join |
| Organizes many group conversations together | Single group in isolation |
Conclusion
WhatsApp communities provide an easy way to organize multiple groups together with better privacy controls. They will allow people to create dedicated spaces for their organizations, clubs, schools and other networks. Communities enhance the groups experience on WhatsApp with powerful new admin tools and features.