By Pascal Oparada
In an update, WhatsApp has added a new feature that allows only admins to send messages in a group chat.
The Facebook-owned app said it is launching new group settings where only admins are able to send messages to a group.
“Today, we’re launching a new group setting where only admins are able to send messages to a group.
“One way people use groups is to receive important announcements and information, including parents and teachers at schools, community centers, and non-profit organizations. We’ve introduced this new setting so admins can have better tools for these use cases,” WhatsApp wrote in a blog post.
“We’ve introduced this new setting so admins can have better tools for these use cases.”
This could be useful for people and groups that use WhatsApp as a way to send mass updates and to cut down on noise and clutter.
In addition to announcements, this feature could increase WhatsApp’s already growing standing as a news delivery platform.
In June, a Reuters Institute study found that people were turning to WhatsApp and other one-to-one or group messaging platforms for news, away from Facebook.
Particularly in some countries with dictatorial regimes, people who were concerned with “the safety of posting political messages” were increasingly using WhatsApp.
The group chat admin feature could help make WhatsApp a system for group alerts.
WhatsApp released a few new group chat features in May that made the service more like Slack. Those included a “catch-up” feature that allows you to see activity where you’re mentioned without having to scroll through endless responses.
“Over the last few months, we’ve added new features that improve the group’s experience. Some of these include group descriptions, a catch-up feature, and protection for people who are being added repeatedly to groups they’ve left,” WhatsApp said.
To enable this setting, open “Group Info,” tap Group Settings > Send Messages and select “Only Admins.” This setting is rolling out to all users around the world on the latest supported versions of the app, WhatsApp said.
