WhatsApp has just introduced a sleek new feature dubbed Channels that lets the app behave more like a social network application. Channels is essentially an imitation of a feature offered by a competing chat software called Telegram (and with the same name, too!).
Check out the Channels feature in action:
Within the app’s newest page (look for Updates section) users may find channels to subscribe to. Separate from conversations with friends and relatives as well as those in group chats and communities, this cool section displays your Status as well as the channels you choose to follow. WhatsApp will, at some point in the future, offer payment capabilities to enable content producers to monetize their work using the feature.
Accounts that broadcast can determine who is permitted to follow their channel if they want it to be discoverable, and more. However, “following a channel won’t reveal your phone number to the admin or other followers,” WhatsApp added.
It also enables accounts to make one-way broadcasts to followers in the form of photos, videos, text, polls, and stickers similar to what is possible with an app like Twitter.
The fact that a channel only keeps its history for the past 30 days and does not publish any information about its administrators is far more crucial. Followers also have the ability to be prevented from capturing screenshots or forwarding messages by admins. WhatsApp has stated that it is investigating the possibility of implementing end-to-end encryption for channels, particularly for non-profits, health organizations, and other privacy-sensitive groups.
Broadcast Channels were introduced by Meta on Instagram earlier this year, and they make it possible for content producers to send updates directly to the inboxes of their followers in a manner that is analogous to what WhatsApp users will soon be able to do. It’s pretty incredible how this function may be compared to a newsletter in specific ways.