Project date: 1 May 2023
Problem Addressed
WhatsApp chats built around link exchange are an increasingly common way for communities to share developments of note, particularly in and around communities interested in political technology and AI. These can be difficult to keep track of in real time for organisers given the sheer quantity of WhatsApp group chats they participate in, however, and by default the only way to see the links you’ve missed is to manually copy and paste each link in the WhatsApp UI.
This tool allows organisers to easily scan the content of link exchange (and other) group chats that they might have missed by extracting all the links from a WhatsApp chatlog and storing them in an easy to navigate spreadsheet. Organisers can use this tool to make sure they never miss an opportunity to share important and interesting knowledge to the communities they organise.
Approach & Implementation
This tool features a simple and straightforward user interface that explains the purpose of the tool, provides instructions for use and clearly signposts users to the core functionality.
Once a chat file has been uploaded, a download CSV button automatically appears:
Which lets you download a .csv containing every link from the chat:
No longer having to worry about missing items of interest for their communities, organisers can use this tool to ensure those they organise are kept in the know.
Resources
- Documentation link: https://github.com/CampaignLab/whatsapp-link-extractor/blob/main/README.md
- Code repository: https://github.com/CampaignLab/whatsapp-link-extractor
Contact: [email protected]
7 May 2025