Telegram has been in the limelight for the past few weeks since Facebook decided to change WhatsApp’s privacy policy for better or worse. Telegram is a privacy-focused messaging app that works a little differently than its peers. For example, it has channels other than groups. And unlike WhatsApp, it has a search feature to hunt for these groups and channels.
Telegram Groups and Channels may sound confusing, but they serve a different purpose. How do you find and join these Telegram groups and channels? That’s what we’re going to learn today.
Let’s start.
How to Find Telegram Groups
There are two types of groups. There are private groups that you cannot find or join unless you are invited and added. This is at the sole discretion of the creator or administrator of the group. By default, groups are private as they are designed for friends and family members. This can be changed in group settings.
Private groups have long complex URLs that you can share to invite new members. Public groups can have special URLs that make them easy to remember and share.
You can search for public Telegram groups, but only if you know the full name or username of the group. Otherwise, ask the group creator/admin to send an invitation or add you to the group.
Tap the search icon in the upper right corner of the screen and type the generic group name. You should see it at the top of the search results.
How to Join Telegram Groups
We found that there are two types of groups. We also saw how to find them when it comes to public groups. It is obviously not intended to find special groups.
Joining a public group is easy. Tap the group name in the search results and select the Join button at the bottom of the screen.
Everyone who is part of the group will see a message notifying the newest member of the group. A notification is also displayed when someone leaves the group, which is easy enough.
For those invited via a link, clicking the same will automatically open the Telegram group. Again, simply tap the Join button.
How to Find Telegram Channels
In Telegram, channels are not much different from groups. Therefore the basic mechanism remains the same and some steps overlap. For example, channels can be private or public, just like groups. And the steps to find these channels are the same.
If they are hidden, you will not find them in the search results. If you know the channel name using the search feature, you can search for them.
How to Join Telegram Channels?
Unlike groups, there will be no announcements when you join or leave a channel. Only the creator or administrator of the channel can send messages that notify subscribers of any developments. There are groups that can be assigned to channels for discussions.
When you find a public channel, open it from the search results and tap the Join button at the bottom of the screen to subscribe.
Clicking the channel link launches the Telegram app that that channel is ready to join. Just tap the button.
How to Send Invites to Groups and Channels
The invite system works the same for both groups and channels. Open the group or channel you want to share with others, tap on the group or channel name and you should see the name under Info.
Tap on the name of the group and you’ll see the familiar Android Share menu popup from the bottom of the screen, no matter what. Select the person or app you want to share the Telegram group or channel with and follow the onscreen instructions.
Send Telegram
Telegram is more secure and private and offers a number of features like disappearing messages in most other messaging apps. The ability to create large groups and channels with hundreds of thousands of members and subscribers was unheard of before. This is another reason why many users prefer Telegram over WhatsApp. It is designed to be scalable. You can then assign different admin roles to other members to help you manage large groups and channels. Finally, bots can be programmed to perform specific tasks by automating daily and mundane administrative activities.
This short guide should have answered your basic questions about Telegram groups and channels, how to find them, how to share them with others and how to join these groups/channels. The process is really simple and Telegram offers enough control over privacy and security. You can always check out Telegram’s FAQ page for the official answer to the options.
