In this article
The seen-by list in a group does not only name people. It can show when each of them read the message, which turns a list into a timeline.
That is more information than most situations need, and the useful part of this page is knowing what to do with it — and what it says about you in return.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle See when members read a message, not only whether.
- check_circle Use that for something legitimate.
- check_circle Understand what your own reading reveals.
- check_circle Turn the whole thing off, in both directions.
Each name in the list can carry a time, which is what makes it a record rather than a count.
schedule A timeline is a stronger claim than a list
Knowing that somebody saw an announcement is useful. Knowing that they saw it at ten past eleven on Tuesday is a different kind of fact, and it invites a different kind of conversation — one about why they did not reply for six hours.
Occasionally that precision is genuinely needed: confirming that a safety notice reached a shift before an incident, or establishing a sequence after something went wrong. Those cases exist and this is the tool for them.
Most of the time it is not needed, and the same information encourages exactly the kind of monitoring that makes a group unpleasant to belong to. The list is bounded anyway: it expires after a period, is unavailable in very large groups, and omits anybody who has turned read receipts off.
Four uses, and the one that is not one
The last tab is the one worth being honest about.
campaign Did the warning arrive
history After something went wrong
how_to_reg Ask instead
warning The use to refuse
Useful for did it arrive, corrosive for how long did they take. And it works both ways.
settings Checking, and deciding
- Hold your own message in the group The seen-by option appears if it is available.
- Open the list Names, and times where shown.
- Read it as incomplete Expired, size-limited, and missing anybody with receipts off.
- Ask for a reaction when it matters Rather than inspecting.
- Capture it at the time if it may be needed later It does not last.
- Turn your own receipts off if this is a burden It removes both directions.
This page is one timestamp in a group. The curriculum step is the whole presence surface: online status, last seen, typing indicators, delivery marks, and the reciprocal settings that govern every one of them together.
At a glance
- 1Read times
In small groups, see when each member read a message.
- 2Legitimate use
Confirm an important notice reached people.
- 3It is reciprocal
Hiding your read time hides others' from you.
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