WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app, has recently released WhatsApp Membership Control Features that enhanced control for group admins. It allows people to create groups and communities to chat, share media, and stay connected. However, managing these groups and communities can be challenging for admins, especially when they have to deal with unwanted or abusive members. That’s why WhatsApp has introduced new features that give admins more control over who can join their groups and communities.

What are WhatsApp Groups and Communities?

WhatsApp groups are conversations where up to 256 people can chat, share media, and make voice or video calls. Groups can be created for various purposes, such as family, friends, work, hobbies, or events. Anyone with the group’s invite link can join unless the admin has restricted access.

WhatsApp launched a new feature called communities in 2023. Communities are larger, more structured discussion groups supporting up to 1,024 users. So, Communities can have multiple sub-groups, announcement groups, and features like polls, emoji reactions, and larger file sharing. Communities are also end-to-end encrypted, meaning only the members can see the messages and media shared in them.

How to Control Who Can Join Your WhatsApp Group or Community?

WhatsApp has recently added some new features that allow admins to control who can join their groups or communities. These features are:

Admin approval:

This feature lets admins decide who can join their group or community by approving or rejecting requests. Admins can now manage all the requests to join their group or community in one place by sharing their group’s invite link or making their group joinable. This feature allows admins to easily accept or reject a user by tapping on a checkmark or an “X.”

Group in common:

This feature lets users see which groups they have in common with someone. The app now lets users search for a contact’s name to see their groups in common. This feature can be useful if users want to see the groups they share with someone or to remember the name of a group they know they have in common with someone.

WhatsApp Membership Control Features designs to give admins more power and flexibility over their group privacy and security. They also make it easier for users to find and join relevant groups and communities.

How to Enable or Disable WhatsApp Membership Control Features?

These features are optional and can be turned on or off by the admins of the groups or communities. To turn these features on or off, follow these steps:

• Open WhatsApp and go to the group or community you want to manage.
• Tap on the group or community name at the top of the chat screen.
• Tap on Group settings or Community settings.
• Tap on the Invite link or Joinable.
• Please choose one of the options: Everyone, My contacts, My contacts except…, Only admins (for groups), or Only community members (for communities).
• If you choose Only Admins or Community Members, you will see a list of requests you can approve or reject.

Benefits of WhatsApp Membership Control Features

The benefits of these features are far-reaching. Firstly, they help maintain group integrity by preventing spam messages from disrupting your conversations. Secondly, they allow group admins to exercise more control over who can send messages, which can be particularly valuable in larger groups where message quality is crucial.

Admin can launch a new feature in their WhatsApp groups which is auto-reply to WhatsApp messages using ChatGPT.

Practical Applications

Let’s explore practical scenarios where these Membership Control Features prove to be a game-changer. For instance, in a work-related group, restricting message sending to admins can help maintain a focused discussion and prevent off-topic chatter. In educational groups, it can ensure that only authorized individuals can share learning materials, reducing the likelihood of irrelevant content.

Conclusion

WhatsApp constantly improves its features and functionality to provide a better user experience and enhance its security and privacy. The new WhatsApp Membership Control Features give admins more power over who can join their groups and communities, making it easier for users to find and join relevant conversations. WhatsApp Membership Control Features are optional and can be enabled or disabled by the admins according to their preferences.