Meta-owned WhatsApp has recently rolled out its new WhatsApp feature.
This exclusive feature allows up to twenty WhatsApp groups to join together to form a single community.
As soon as the feature launched, users started comparing it to the existing WhatsApp group features.
So, what’s the basic difference between the two? Which one is better?
Read through this article to knot h basic differences between the two WhatsApp features in detail.
What Is WhatsApp Community?
To expand its social capabilities, WhatsApp has recently rolled out the Community feature.
This exclusive feature will help you to bring along separate individuals sharing the same interests under a single community.
It is a parent group consisting of various sub-groups for smoother and more convenient communication.
Being a user, you can leave a specific group but still be a part of the Community. You will still be able to access the information circulated in the central group.
The WhatsApp community also includes a specific feature where admins can send a message to all the other groups, including the WhatsApp Community.
What Is WhatsApp Group?
WhatsApp group brings all WhatsApp users together who can share messages with each other.
Being a WhatsApp user, you can create or be a part of the WhatsApp group.
While creating a WhatsApp group, you need to select the contacts from the list of your phone contacts.
Then add the name and description, and set a profile picture. Then the group admin can allow the members to share messages and media files.
The creator of the group can limit the sharing capabilities to the admins only.
In this case, only the selected users can send messages to that group. For the other users, the group exists in read-only mode.
WhatsApp Group or WhatsApp Community – Which One Should I Choose?
Both WhatsApp groups and communities have separate uses. So, go through these basic differences and decide when to create a WhatsApp group and when to create a WhatsApp Community.
User Interface
The WhatsApp Communities are accessible in a dedicated tab within WhatsApp.
You will see a community icon right beside the Chats tab.
The community icon is rectangular in shape, whereas the WhatsApp group has a circular icon.
A WhatsApp group can have up to 1024 users, whereas the WhatsApp community supports about 21 groups with about 21,500 participants users with end-to-end encryption to all the users.
While creating a new WhatsApp community, you are allowed to add up to 21 groups, including new and existing ones.
While managing the groups inside the WhatsApp community, you can add 51 groups.
Sharing Options
WhatsApp group welcomes everyone to join the conversation and share views.
Whereas WhatsApp communities are created to share announcements & updates in different WhatsApp groups from a single channel.
The groups are open for any community member to join.
When a new Community is created, each user of the individual group who joins the Community is automatically added to the announcement group.
This means that there is no need to copy-paste and then forward the messages in multiple groups. The announcement can be made from a single broadcast channel.
The announcement group can have only 5000 members, as stated on the WhatsApp support page.
WhatsApp Polls
WhatsApp group has rolled out a new innovative feature called Polls, but this feature is missing in WhatsApp Communities.
Ownership
If you are the admin of some WhatApp groups and leave the group, then the admin right is transferred to another user in the group.
But in WhatsApp Communities, the creator or the admin cannot exist as an admin. Instead, you can stay deactivated.
The Role Of The Admin
The power of the members of a WhatsApp community is limited. They cannot invite new groups or embers.
It is the admin who has the supreme power to add or remove other embers from the group. The admin can edit the community title and description and send or delete messages in the announcement group.
Video And Audio Calls
WhatsApp group allows you to make video calls or voice calls anytime. But you cannot do that in a WhatsApp community.
To conduct meetings and discuss anything, the communities must rely on WhatsApp groups.
To support this, WhatsApp has increased the number of participants in a video or audio call to 32 users.
User Privacy
Every user in a WhatsApp group can see the other members’ lists.
Open the WhatsApp group settings, and there you will be able to check the complete list of the participants along with their contact numbers.
But the WhatsApp community members cannot see the list of all the other members.
You will only be able to see the number of members who are part of the WhatsApp community.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
- How do I change my WhatsApp group to Community?
You can open WhatsApp and tap on More Options. The tap on the New Community.
You can also use New Chat > New Community. Then type the community name and description and add a profile image.
- How can I avoid the WhatsApp group without anyone knowing?
Open WhatsApp. Go to the chats tab and tap on the group you want to leave.
Click on the three dots menu from the top and tap on the More option—select the Exit group button.
- Who owns the WhatsApp Community app?
Mathew Peltier and Josh Rosenheck are the cofounders of the WhatsApp Community app.
Final Words
WhatsApp Communities and groups both have their individual importance.
So, you can choose both as and when needed. For any further queries, you can reach out to us in the comments section provided below.
