WhatsApp introduced the Communities feature in 2022 to help bring related groups together under one umbrella to organize group conversations on WhatsApp better. Communities allow admins to bring different groups together that share a common interest and coordinate conversations between thousands of people at once.
What are WhatsApp Communities?
WhatsApp Communities are a way to bring separate groups together in a structured way. Community admins can broadcast messages to everyone in the Community and can also have smaller discussion groups for more private conversations.
With Communities, WhatsApp users will be able to:
- Organize related groups in one place
- Easily broadcast information to the entire Community
- Coordinate conversations across groups
- Admins can control which groups can be included
Some examples of how Communities could be used:
- Neighborhood or apartment complex could have a Community with groups for maintenance requests, activities, neighborhood watch, etc.
- A school could have a Community with groups for different classes, extracurricular activities, parent volunteers, etc.
- A workplace could have a Community with groups for different teams, projects, events, HR issues, etc.
How do WhatsApp Communities work?
WhatsApp Communities function similarly to groups but are designed for much larger organizations and conversations. Here are some key things to know about how they work:
- Communities can have up to 50 groups within them, with up to 5000 total members.
- Each group within a Community can have up to 512 members.
- Only Community admins can create groups within a Community.
- Admins can share messages with the entire Community through announcements.
- Admins can delete inappropriate or abusive content within the Community.
- Users have to be invited by an admin to join a Community.
- All messages within Communities are end-to-end encrypted.
Overall, Communities provide more organization and coordination features compared to regular WhatsApp groups. The larger structure allows for mass broadcasting but also more private conversations for subgroups.
Who can create a WhatsApp Community?
Currently, only WhatsApp group admins are able to create Communities. There are a few requirements to start a Community:
- Must be an admin of a WhatsApp group
- The WhatsApp group must have been created at least 30 days ago
- The group must have at least 100 members
These requirements help ensure that Communities are created by experienced group admins who are committed to building a legitimate community.
Regular WhatsApp users who are interested in starting a Community will need to first create a group and build up its membership before becoming eligible.
What are the different roles in a WhatsApp Community?
There are 3 key roles within a WhatsApp Community:
- Community Admins – These are the creators of the Community who have full control. They can add and remove other admins, create groups, delete groups, and send announcements. There can be up to 10 admins per Community.
- Group Admins – Admins for each individual group within the Community. They help manage conversations within their specific groups. Group admins are assigned by Community admins.
- Members – Regular WhatsApp users who join the Community. They can be added to groups within the Community and participate in conversations.
Community Admins are the central authority figures who govern the overall Community. Group admins focus on their specific subgroup topics and members simply participate across the various groups.
How do you create a WhatsApp Community?
Here are the steps to create a Community as a WhatsApp group admin:
- Open the WhatsApp group where you are an admin
- Tap on the 3-dot menu in the top right
- Select “Create Community”
- Give the Community a name and description
- Tap on “Create”
After following these steps, your group will become a Community. You can then begin adding more groups and members.
How do you add groups to a WhatsApp Community?
Community admins can add new groups by following these steps:
- Open the Community info page
- Tap “Add Group”
- Select if you want to add an existing group or create a new one
- If creating new, enter group details and tap “Create”
- If adding existing, tap on the group you want to add
The admin can repeat these steps to continue adding more groups to the Community. Each Community can have up to 50 total groups.
How do you add members to a WhatsApp Community?
To add someone new to the Community, admins can add them to any of the groups within the Community. There are a couple ways to do this:
- In an individual group, tap on the group name to open info, then tap “Add Members”
- Go to the Community info page, select a group, then tap “Add Members”
Admins can then search for and select new members to add. Anyone added to at least one group will become part of the overall Community.
How do admins manage WhatsApp Communities?
Community admins have the following management capabilities:
- Add, remove, and promote other admins
- Create new groups within the Community
- Delete existing groups
- Assign group admins to manage individual groups
- Send announcements to the entire Community
- Remove members from the Community or specific groups
- Monitor compliance with community guidelines
The admin settings are accessed through the Community info page. From there, admins can tap into each group or member to perform admin functions across the Community.
How do you find WhatsApp Communities to join?
Unlike regular WhatsApp groups discoverable through links and invites, Communities are closed structures that users need to be added to. There are a couple ways to find and get added to a Community:
- Receive an invite link directly from a Community admin
- Ask to join the Community of an organization you are a member of
- Search for the Community name on Facebook to find contact details for the admins
- Look for Community invite links posted publicly on social media or websites
Since Communities are intended for established organizations, the administrators will want to control who is able to join. Reach out to them directly if you are interested in joining a particular Community.
How do you leave a WhatsApp Community?
If you no longer wish to be part of a Community, you can leave at any time:
- Open the Community info page
- Scroll to the bottom and tap “Exit Community”
- Tap “Exit” again in the confirmation message
This will remove you from all associated groups in the Community. You would need to be re-added by an admin to join again.
Can you delete a WhatsApp Community?
Currently, there is no way for individual members to delete a Community. Only Community admins have the ability to delete.
Here are the steps an admin must take to delete an entire Community:
- Go to the Community info page
- Tap on “Delete Community”
- Confirm deletion in the pop-up message
Deleting a Community will remove all associated groups and conversations. This action is permanent and cannot be undone.
WhatsApp Community Guidelines
WhatsApp has created guidelines that apply specifically to Communities. All members and admins are expected to follow these rules:
- Do not spread misinformation or engage in illegal activity
- Do not organize violence or promote hate speech
- Maintain privacy and do not share personal info of others
- Keep conversations relevant to the Community purpose
- Comply with local laws as well as WhatsApp policies
Admins are authorized to remove members and content that violates these guidelines. Violations may also lead to being banned from WhatsApp entirely.
WhatsApp Community Usage Examples
Here are some examples of how WhatsApp Communities could be used by different organizations:
| Organization | Potential Community Use Cases |
|---|---|
| School |
|
| Workplace |
|
| Neighborhood |
|
| Conference |
|
The structured nature of Communities allows for both mass broadcasting as well as more intimate conversations between members. This can facilitate better communication and coordination across large organizations.
Conclusion
WhatsApp Communities provide a robust platform for large scale group coordination. Key features like Community announcements, coordinated groups, and admin management tools enable organizations to communicate more efficiently.
While more complex than regular WhatsApp groups, Communities allow for productive discourse across thousands of people unified under a common purpose. For large organizations like schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and events, Communities present an exciting way to engage with all members and stakeholders.