Following the fast spread of fake news and deliberate misinformation via WhatsApp, the messaging platform had tweaked some of its features. Those of us who realised how the rapid spread of false rumours led to violence and even deaths welcomed those tweaks. We started to see tags such as ‘forwarded’ and ‘forwarded many times’ and we could share only with limited numbers of groups/contacts. However, those who use WhatsApp for Business and some others would find this limiting. So WhatsApp has added a feature that will obviate this problem.
The WhatsApp FAQ page explains what a broadcast list is: it is a feature that helps you send a message to up to 256 of your contacts at the same time. You can send to multiple recipients without having to create a group of those contacts. So this is handy if you want to send messages without the hassle of creating a group and adding contacts.
It is also handy if you want to send messages simultaneously without all the recipients knowing that you're sending the same message to multiple recipients. Each of the recipients will receive the message as a normal message and when they reply, you receive that as a normal message as well. So this is a more private and secure way of sending messages to multiple recipients.
You can include only contacts in this list; i.e. names and numbers you have saved on your phone. Also, you can only send it to recipients who have your number saved in their phone (so if someone does not have your number saved, they will not receive your message).
When you open your app, you see the three dots that indicate ‘More Options’ on the screen. This is usually at the top right of your phone screen as indicated in the image above. In some phones, this could be different as the image below indicates.
Once you tap on the icon for more options, you will see the ‘New Broadcast’ option. When you tap on this, you will see a list of all your contacts. You can how select up to 256 contacts. When you’ve selected all the contacts you wish to send a message to, you click on the tick icon and a message window will open up. You will see how many recipients your broadcast list has. You then create a message as you usually would: text, image, video etc.
You can edit a broadcast list to add or remove a contact as required. You can also delete a Broadcast List if you think you no longer need it or for any other reason. You simply tap and hold and then press the Deleted broadcast list option.
The benefit of using this feature is that the privacy of the recipients is protected. For instance I don’t like being added to random groups with a bunch of strangers. I would prefer to receive relevant messages directly rather than in a group. Also I would prefer to respond to one person directly rather than to have to remember who is in a group and then respond accordingly. The WhatsApp Broadcast List feature is also handy for small business that may have to communicate with clients/customers.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
