Today we show you how to use the People Nearby Telegram feature. Telegram is one of the most popular messaging applications worldwide, which has started the year off on the right foot, taking advantage of WhatsApp’s problems. It is an application that is regularly updated with all kinds of features, such as the ability to connect with people close to where you are, thanks to People nearby.
This function arrived some time ago to Telegram and has more and more followers. A way to talk to people who are near you, either in personal chats or in group chats that have been created and to which you will be able to join.
What is the People Nearby feature of Telegram?
People Nearby is a function that we find in the messaging application, which when activated, will allow us to see what other people who use the app are near us, as well as open groups that are in the area. We will be able to send messages to those people and they will also be able to write to us at all times, as with your contacts, only in this case they are strangers.
Telegram will show people within a radius of about 10 or 15 km, in my case 12 km is the maximum I’ve seen, although it depends on each area. When you activate this option, you will be able to start writing messages to these people and they will be able to send you messages. If you don’t like this option, you can always deactivate it, preventing strangers from sending you a message.
Risks
Enabling People Nearby in the app will allow anyone in your area with this feature enabled to message you. It is not the best option if you are looking to use the app privately, as this feature exposes you somewhat, although those people will only see your username and never your phone number. You lose privacy by allowing everyone to write to you.
People Nearby is a feature that relies on the user’s location to show them, other users, nearby at that moment. Although it can show your precise location, something that hackers could discover, as already reported by several media. Taking a look at some groups, for example, shows the precise location of the person who created the group, so it is easy to have access to such sensitive data as that.
How to activate People Nearby feature in Telegram?
Many users on Telegram want to use People Nearby or at least try it out on occasion, to see if it is a feature they are interested in and want to use in their case. If you want to be able to try it out on your account on the messaging app, the process to activate it is not complicated. Just follow these steps:
- Open Telegram.
- Click on the three horizontal stripes at the top left.
- Go to People Nearby.
- If it is the first time you enter, you will see a warning on the screen. Click on Allow access.
- To let others see you, click on Make me visible.
With these steps, you are now visible to other users with this feature active in the application. If at any time you change your mind, just go to this section and click on “Stop showing me” to hide your profile again.
