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I want to talk to you about one of my favorite messaging platforms, Telegram. It's an incredibly popular platform that I joined because everyone in the crypto scene was on it. At first, I didn't understand why, but the interface is extremely ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing.
Sending messages just feels nice and the app is really fast. There are a lot of features that I want to delve into.
Overall, I think it's a great platform for people trying to coordinate and build the future.
Number one, the user experience (UX) is really nice. It's a lot faster than something like WhatsApp. Moreover, it's great for all kinds of phones because Telegram isn't limited to iPhone users. Unlike iMessage groups, which alienates anyone with an Android device.
You also get the benefit of a message history when you add someone because groups always evolve. If they're doing anything meaningful and you have to bring everyone up to speed on what has been said before, it's just a bad experience for everyone.
It's easy to send voice or video notes to people. Uploading videos is a breeze. For example, when you upload a video, you can effortlessly forward it to another chat because it's already on the Telegram servers. Audio notes feel nice as well. Once you send an audio note, you can easily transcribe it, and the recipient can see the transcriptions.
Creating groups is really easy. It has some nice default settings, such as being able to see message history. It's also easy to mute groups for a set period, like 12 hours, 24 hours, or even a week. I often mute a group chat for a week, then catch up a week later if I'm interested. I'll usually see if someone tagged me because I ensure that my direct mentions are still activated.
A lot of people get overwhelmed by Telegram because they don't understand how to change the notification settings. You can mute a group by default and still get mentioned. It can be overwhelming if you think that you have to read every message that's not relevant to you.
Some other small features that still make a difference include the abundant emoji collection. When you send an emoji, it animates and it's really big. The sticker packs are fun too; you can upload your own. Overall, it's just a really good experience.
In terms of privacy, I don't have much to say, except that if you have something really sensitive, I wouldn't recommend using Telegram. However, for public coordination where you're proud of just about everything that's happening, why not use Telegram? The user experience is unparalleled.
With Telegram groups, you can have topics and channels, similar to a Slack environment where a single group has many different threads. Conversely, in Slack, there are often hundreds of different topic channels. If you're able to mute these, it helps prevent information overload.
You're able to navigate these different topic channels that might be relevant to you without being overwhelmed because everything is muted by default. Additionally, groups can have an announcement channel that you separately do not mute, in case you want to make sure that you don't miss any important updates.
Understanding how to use Telegram can really improve your experience. However, if you don't understand how to use it, it can definitely be overwhelming.