Channels

Channels are a tool for broadcasting your messages to an unlimited amount of subscribers. They can be made public with a permanent URL or be kept private to share with only those you choose.

[Two channels side-by-side, one a public channel posting something ubiquitous, like a review of a book, lots of views. The other image is a private channel, post starts with Dear Diary]

Channels have a view counter for each post, including views gained from forwarded copies of your posts so you can know how far your ideas have spread.

Like other messages on Telegram, you can edit your posts in case your keyboard has betrayed you and left a typo. You can delete posts as well, just in case you're the type to say "I shouldn't have said that" often. Tap the message and select either edit or delete.

[this will need a video as well, likely fixing a typo that totally changes the message]

Privacy in Mind

Posts on channels are signed by default with the channel's name, rather than the poster's name. If you want to claim credit for your posts, you can change the Sign Messages setting in the channel's options. This is your chance to use that perfect pen name.

[A channel, showing the difference between a post with the option on and off. When the option is off, it's signed by George Pinkmonton (or other bland name), when turned on, instead it shows Slater Steele]

Easy to Share

You don't even need a Telegram account to be able to read public channels like the Telegram News channel. Like users, channels come with an easily shareable t.me link to share across other platforms - email, Twitter or even business cards. Even individual posts come with their own URL.

[tapping a t.me link to a public channel (ours?) without Telegram installed, opening the web interface]

When a subscriber forwards a post from your channel to another chat, the username on the post links back to your channel.

Widgets can help you bring your channel to the web, embedding content from your channel into a website.

Want to share a midnight snack review without waking up your local subscribers? Channels supported silent messages even before it was added to the rest of the app, letting you post without sending a notification sound to your subscribers. Tap the bell icon to toggle silent messages mode on and off.

[Telegram in night mode, user taps the bell then posts an image of his snack]

Get Connected

Channels support polls to let you judge public opinion, make decisions and help your audience connect with you. For those missing the ability to comment, like and react to posts, bots like Discussbot add functionality to your channel.

[A heated vote about pop culture like Star Wars vs Star Trek vs Stargate, it's posted, fills up quickly and then results are shown.]

Best of Both Worlds

Channels are great for one-way communication, but what if you want your followers to be able to discuss your posts? Discussion Groups are groups attached to channels that allow up to 200,000 of your followers to chat about your posts.

When you post on your channel, it's automatically forwarded and pinned in the discussion group so you can have your cake and eat it too.

[Shows setting up a Discussion Group for the previous image, in the discussion group the vote is posted. Fans start getting nerdy: "Darth Vader could totally beat up Captain Kirk." "Yeah, but Picard is way too smart to be defeated." One lone Stargate fan posts something like "Isn't it great to be a nerd?"]