WhatsApp Channels - A Potential Winner for School Communication?

[Zoom7000]

Introducing WhatsApp Channels. A Private Way to Follow What Matters

Today we’re excited to introduce Channels: a simple, reliable, and private way to receive important updates from people and organizations, right within WhatsApp. We’re building Channels in a new tab called Updates - where you’ll find Status and channels you choose to follow - separate from your chats with family, friends, and communities.

 

Channels are a one-way broadcast tool for admins to send text, photos, videos, stickers, and polls. To help you select channels to follow, we’re building a searchable directory where you can find your hobbies, sports teams, updates from local officials, and more. You can also get to a channel from invite links sent in chats, e-mail, or posted online.

 

We’re aspiring to build the most private broadcast service available. This starts by protecting the personal information of both admins and followers. As a channel admin, your phone number and profile photo won’t be shown to followers. Likewise, following a channel won’t reveal your phone number to the admin or other followers. Who you decide to follow is your choice and it’s private.

 

Similar to how we build messaging, we don’t believe Channel updates should have to stick around forever. So we’ll only store channel history on our servers for up to 30 days and we’ll add ways to make updates disappear even faster from follower’s devices. Admins will also have the option to block screenshots and forwards from their channel.

 

Lastly, we’ll make it possible for admins to decide who can follow their channel and whether they want their channel to be discoverable in the directory or not. Given the aim of Channels is to reach a wide audience, channels are not end-to-end encrypted by default. We do think there are some cases where end-to-end encrypted channels to a limited audience might make sense, such as a non profit or health organization, and we’re exploring this as a future option as well.

 

To kick off Channels, we’re excited to work with leading global voices and select organizations in Colombia and Singapore, where Channels will first be available, to build, learn, and adapt the experience. We’ll bring Channels to more countries and the ability for anyone to create a channel over the coming months.

 

We also believe there is an opportunity to support admins with a way for them to build a business around their channel using our expanding payment services as well as the ability to promote certain channels in the directory to help increase awareness.

 

Naturally, the core of how people use WhatsApp will continue to be private messaging among friends, family, and communities, and that will always be our first priority. Building channels is a big step our users have asked us to take for years. We think the time is finally right to introduce a simple, reliable, and private broadcast tool and we hope you enjoy using it in the months and years to come.

 

Thoughts? Personally, I figured this might be a potential winner for schools when it comes to the ever growing challenge of parental communication. There are a plethora of parent communication tools and platforms out there. In my experience, there are several challenges with all those I have come across:

 

1. Cost - Some of these platforms are extremely costly!

2. Engagement - Getting parents/carers to actually download the apps and then sign up can be ever so cumbersome and challenging!

3. Features - Most of these platforms are severely lacking in features. Some in app options from built in MIS comms tools don't even allow hyperlinks!

 

I could go on, but that's just a few...

 

Whatever we think of WhatsApp, Meta and Zuck, there's no getting away from the fact that WhatsApp is the most widely used messaging platform in the world. I feel like Channels will bring the best of some much needed options in terms of privacy (no visibility of numbers) and controlling the conversation (1 way comms from the school and not an open area for debate).

 

Would be good to hear what others think...

[2ilent8cho]

2 friends are parents with kids at school, they removed WhatsApp 2 years ago, and refuse to use it because its a Facebook product. I also removed it and use Signal because its not owned by Facebook.

[paulkerton]

2 friends are parents with kids at school, they removed WhatsApp 2 years ago, and refuse to use it because its a Facebook product. I also removed it and use Signal because its not owned by Facebook.

 

OK, well that's the case for a very small people - but the vast majority don't and couldn't give a hoot. There are 30 million people who use WhatsApp in the UK. To compare, 40 million use Signal worldwide.

 

I do believe schools should really look at going where their audience is. If a couple of people don't use it, it shouldn't negate using it for 99% of your community.

[Zoom7000]

2 friends are parents with kids at school, they removed WhatsApp 2 years ago, and refuse to use it because its a Facebook product. I also removed it and use Signal because its not owned by Facebook.

 

I'm not saying that there aren't people that don't use WhatsApp, but if you had to pick a single messaging platform that is most widely used, WhatsApp is top of the list.

 

Far more people use WhatsApp than possibly all of the school communication platforms put together! (I've not got any stats to prove that, but I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case, given the value of the company for starters!)

[jthompson]

Once Apple iMessage supports RCS, there'll be no need for WhatsApp any more.

 

 

But seriously, I can't help feeling that good old email ought to be the core of parent comms. As a human being, I find organisations communicating with me via text/chat quite annoying, since email is invariably preferable: not tied to a single device and easier to search for.

[sigma]

2 friends are parents with kids at school, they removed WhatsApp 2 years ago, and refuse to use it because its a Facebook product. I also removed it and use Signal because its not owned by Facebook.

 

I would have been a refusenik too. I use Signal for the same reason.

[Face-Man]

If you don't pay for the product you are the product..... (I do use all of these products so am a ,,,,, )

[paulkerton]

Once Apple iMessage supports RCS, there'll be no need for WhatsApp any more.

 

Someone's in a cheeky mood!

[jthompson]

Someone's in a cheeky mood!

 

The troll emoji was obviously required there, but it would mean that I could ditch WhatsApp and just bully people into using either Android Messages or iMessage for any and all chats with me.

 

The day Apple relents on RCS is the day WhatsApp's value falls off a cliff.

[LeMarchand]

2 friends are parents with kids at school, they removed WhatsApp 2 years ago, and refuse to use it because its a Facebook product. I also removed it and use Signal because its not owned by Facebook.

 

 

I don't have a Facebook account (a departed cat set one up for a couple of looks on MarketPlace) for many reasons but I do use WhatsApp. I'd be happier with Signal but it both lacks penetration and (maybe it's better now?) never seemed reliable for the couple of months I was testing it.

 

Once Apple iMessage supports RCS, there'll be no need for WhatsApp any more.

 

Not everyone has drunk the Apple Kool-Aid.

[Zoom7000]

I think we forget sometimes that we are in a technical forum where we care about these sorts of things. The vast majority of users don't know or care for RCS. [sadly] A large portion of users also don't care for cookies, personal data usage and the like. Admit it, how many times have you seen a user at your school just press "Accept" when faced with the annoying cookie notice?

 

Even when the major T&Cs change to WhatsApp took place a couple of years ago, only those in the know really moved away to Signal or Telegram. But then an awful lot moved back to WhatsApp, because what's the use in a messaging platform when none of the people you want to message are there?

 

Communication will take place where the people are. The vast majority of those are still on WhatsApp and will probably be there for many years to come. Whether Apple implement RCS or not!

[jthompson]

I don't have a Facebook account (a departed cat set one up for a couple of looks on MarketPlace) for many reasons but I do use WhatsApp. I'd be happier with Signal but it both lacks penetration and (maybe it's better now?) never seemed reliable for the couple of months I was testing it.

 

 

 

Not everyone has drunk the Apple Kool-Aid.

I've not drink the Kool-Aid. Those who haven't would be able to use whatever RCS-capable app (e.g. Android Messages) to communicate with their iPhone-owning friends in group chats, etc. without both parties having to use WhatsApp or similar in order to achieve that. With iMessage falling back to plain old SMS for non-iMessage recipients, it's a crappy situation for all.

[mavhc]

Has no one heard of RSS?

[Zoom7000]

Has no one heard of RSS?

 

How would you engage parents with RSS?

[Garacesh]

I've not drink the Kool-Aid. Those who haven't would be able to use whatever RCS-capable app (e.g. Android Messages) to communicate with their iPhone-owning friends in group chats, etc. without both parties having to use WhatsApp or similar in order to achieve that. With iMessage falling back to plain old SMS for non-iMessage recipients, it's a crappy situation for all.

 

No they wouldn't, because Apple will still do their stupid "oh look, shame the green bubble" lark.

Also as the USB-C debacle has shown, Apple only pretend to integrate standards

 

AAAANYWAY back on topic

I feel like e-mail is probably still the best option, because it's better logged and searchable, and it can be passed around from person to person or have multiple people all using it simultaneously (e.g. MS365 dedicated mailbox). Far easier to keep a record of communication if a parent ends up getting nasty.

I mean I'd expect some of these are features of the business accounts but I don't know for certain.

 

Plus, and this is just personal opinion, I feel like email brings with it an assumption of non-instantaneous communication. Instant messaging just 'feels' more like someone should be manning the number at all times.

[jthompson]

Has no one heard of RSS?

 

Outside of IT departments: no, I doubt many people have heard of RSS.

[LeMarchand]

I've not drink the Kool-Aid. Those who haven't would be able to use whatever RCS-capable app (e.g. Android Messages) to communicate with their iPhone-owning friends in group chats, etc. without both parties having to use WhatsApp or similar in order to achieve that. With iMessage falling back to plain old SMS for non-iMessage recipients, it's a crappy situation for all.

 

 

I think it's a non-issue in that WhatsApp is what people use, not because they have weighed up the options, but because it's what everyone else uses.

 

Has no one heard of RSS?

 

I love RSS, but most people haven't heard of it.

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by LeMarchand

[mavhc]

How would you engage parents with RSS?

 

On iOS use the https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/shortcuts/apd624386f42/ios to subscribe them by clicking a link

 

Or use web notifications, put OneSignal on your website and people can subscribe to notifications there for free

[Face-Man]

the worst one I get from my children's school is they send an email to say there is a message on the bromcom parent portal which I've never signed up for as it involved far to many steps to be worth doing (in my experience if schools need to get hold of you they use the telephone) .

 

I've never worked out why they don't just email the info...

 

.... to quote black adder "Thank you, young crone. Here is a purse of monies... [she tries to grab it] which I'm not going to give to you. [walks in]"

[David44]

I'm not saying that there aren't people that don't use WhatsApp, but if you had to pick a single messaging platform that is most widely used, WhatsApp is top of the list.

 

Above text messages or email?

[LeMarchand]

Above text messages or email?

 

I very rarely use text messages* these days, and emails only tend to be to businesses.

 

*Initially because Virgin used to charge extra if you used an emoji (let alone sent a picture) and charged for group texts.

[Zoom7000]

Above text messages or email?

 

Yes, hardly anyone I know uses text messages these days. Especially because you can't send media for free via text. WhatsApp allows for free media messaging with no worry of being charged the cost of an MMS message.

 

As for email, as am EdTech speaker once said at a conference... "Email is what the old people do!"

 

If anything, in my experience, email has become much more for formal communication, whereas the bulk of personal messaging takes place on social platforms like WhatsApp, SnapChat, Instagram etc.

[jthompson]

People may not generally send text messages or emails, but pretty much everybody will be able to receive them.

 

I wouldn't have thought any school would want to send anything of any importance via WhatsApp that they didn't also send to parents via email.

[howartp]

We send everything by email, but a lot ends up in spam (particularly where we've mail-merged details and hence it gets processed as 1500 emails rather than 1 email with 1500 recipients).

 

We also have school facebook, twitter and instagram accounts which are used well - and triggers emails to IT of "I saw this on FB but you didn't email me it" where I reply "check your spam/junk folders".

 

I did see the WhatsApp channels this morning (from ANME) and forwarded to our marketing lady; I reckon it would be useful for message/event alerts if we leave out the "social" stuff, so it becomes a business noticeboard rather than social following.

[jmak]

I hate Meta and all its arms - but I succumbed as otherwise I didn't get to hear family news and missed invitations to things I was interested in

 

I definitely get more WhatsApp messages from people I want to hear from than I get SMS or emails - I probably get more emails, but I don't want most of them.