WhatsApp communities gain event organization features

WhatsApp is adding a new way to plan and organize events in group messages, making it easier for friends and organizations like schools and neighborhoods to organize virtual and in-person meetings.

The new events feature allows members of a group to organize birthday parties, work meetings, and more, similar to many e-invitation services that send invitations via email. New WhatsApp events are pinned to a group’s info page and also get their own group chat thread so everyone can see who’s down, hear inevitable excuses for those who can’t attend, and confirm who’s bringing cookies .

WhatsApp is also adding the ability to reply to “Ad Groups” so members can add comments and feedback for the admin. It also keeps replies minimized and chat muted so people have the option to read and participate in the discussion without overwhelming others with notifications.

The events feature will first appear for groups in WhatsApp Communities and then for all groups in the coming months. WhatsApp Communities is the chat app’s Slack or Discord-like feature that has its own message threads, group admins, and announcement functions. It also takes advantage of WhatsApp’s 32-person video calling features, which invite users to participate instead of calling everyone.