In Zulip, channels determine who gets a message. They are similar to
channels in IRC/Slack/Discord, chat rooms, and email lists.

We recommend setting up some channels before inviting other users to
join Zulip, so that you can [automatically subscribe
everyone](/help/set-default-streams-for-new-users) to the right set of
channels.

If you later create additional channels, no worries! You can always add
a group of users or all the members of another channel to a new channel.

!!! tip ""
    Add clear descriptions to your channels, especially public channels.