WhatsApp context cards want to help explain why you got that group invite

Some people are just phenomenal when it comes to remembering others; they meet someone once, and that’s all it takes. Then there are those of us who have been bumping into the same neighbor every week for years yet couldn’t pick them out of a lineup to save our lives. It’s a phenomenon that’s managed to carry over to the digital world — who hasn’t gotten an email from someone writing like you’re old friends, but you just can’t place where you know them from? WhatsApp is in the process of rolling out a new tool that looks to help a little bit along this line, with the introduction of some tweaks to group invites.

When you get an invite to join a group from a WhatsApp user you don’t already know, the app will now display a context card that aims to give you a smidge more background on what this group is about and why you’re being recruited to join. That includes details like the group’s creation date, a summary of its focus, and the person initially behind its formation.

That’s not a ton to go on, but it might be just enough to jog your memory and connect the needed dots. If you still can’t figure out why these people are interested in you and the whole thing’s just giving you bad vibes, you can always report or block the group.

WhatsApp head Will Cathcart shares news of the feature today in his channel. Some users should already be seeing the new context cards when invited to unfamiliar groups, and it will be going live for the rest of us over the next few weeks.