Messenger is introducing admin privileges for group chats, giving people the ability to approve new members before joining the chat if they’d like.
This is especially helpful in large group chats and with people you may not yet be connected to, like when getting groups of friends together to plan a surprise birthday party. Admins also have the ability to remove members if needed, and promote or demote any other person in the group chat as an admin.
Messenger is also making it easier to add people to group chats with a feature called joinable links. Anyone in a group chat can create a custom invite link and share with someone they’d like to join the conversation. People who tap the link will either be added to the group automatically if approvals are turned off by the group chat admin, or will be added once the admin has approved the request.
These new features make it easier to enjoy group chats on Messenger. Here is a list of things about Messenger people might not know about.
- Anyone can use Messenger, even without a Facebook account
- You can video chat with up to 50 friends on Messenger, with everyone having access to filters, masks, reactions and all the video features available on Messenger
- Send 15 second video messages to friends
- Interact with bots on Messenger. Whether it’s to book a trip on TripAdvisoror to find a place to live via Domain or to keep up with the latest sports news, e.g. AFL
- Pick and book a restaurant with friends and family. Eliminate the chaos of making dinner plans with large groups. Simply open the blue plus symbol and then the ‘Open Table’bot where you can collaboratively search and make reservations for restaurants without leaving the Messenger chat
- Play games on the go. From Pac-Man to Snake, EverWing, UNO and Tetris
- Never lose your mates again – you can choose to send a map with your location or another specific place for your friends to meet you within Messenger
- Create group playlists on Spotify. If you have Spotify, then you can discover and share 30-second song clips in your chats with friends within your Messenger chat. You can even create group playlists with your friends, so you are ready for the weekend. You can set this up by tapping on the + icon and tapping on Spotify under Extensions
