A few new features that WhatsApp is rolling out for Communities will let users engage in more creative ways. The instant messaging platform’s parent company, Meta, revealed on Wednesday that it is enhancing Communities with a new Events feature and enabling answers in Announcement Groups. Group members can establish any kind of event using events, and other participants can subsequently register their attendance or absence. Notably, it has also been rumoured that WhatsApp is developing a Recently Online feature that will provide a list of users who have recently accessed the app.
Announcing the features in a newsroom post, Meta said, “To help bring communities even closer together, we’re adding a new way for people to organize events on WhatsApp, and we’re introducing organized replies in Announcement Groups so members can respond to important updates from admins.” According to the firm, any member of a group whose group is a part of a community can now arrange events. Tapping the paper clip icon in the text box brings up options for payments and surveys, along with the ability to create an event.
These gatherings can be for birthday celebrations or virtual get-togethers. Upon creation, an event can be responded to by other members. They are able to declare the event open and indicate whether or not they plan to attend. It is visible to all who is and is not going to be at the event.
The events are also listed on the information page for the group. When the event is set to end, members who plan to attend will receive a notification reminding them of it. Events are currently only available to groups within Communities, but over the next few months, WhatsApp plans to expand the feature to all groups.
Reactions to Announcement Groups are another new feature. Every WhatsApp community has its own Announcements group, to which all users can join even if they have only been added to one of the groups; however, only the admins are able to post in it. Major announcements that affect every member are typically posted there. All users of WhatsApp can now respond to these messages.
Admins will be able to gather community input in one location thanks to this feature. To prevent clutter, these responses have been aggregated and minimised. Opening it brings up a bottom slide with all of the responses. All reply notifications are disabled.
