WhatsApp, the popular messaging platform, has launched a new feature called Channels. Currently available only to select organizations in Colombia and Singapore, it will be rolled out in the coming months once all the kinks are out.
Here’s what you can expect when it visits your corner of the world:
WhatsApp channels will have a news type feed that looks a lot like Twitter, but it won’t allow for any interaction – it’s will be a one-way broadcast street.
If you create a channel, you’ll be able shout out your breaking news via text, photos, videos, stickers, and polls. Anyone who decides to follow it can easily keep up to date with your brand, but unlike the public forum of Twitter, they cannot comment. In addition, everything will be completely private – followers won’t see your phone number or profile photo and vice versa.
As explained by WhatsApp, channels will be found on a separate tab unique to followers’ family, friends and communities. Users can find channels they’d like to follow through a searchable directory (which you can opt out of if you’d like) that WhatsApp is building. You will also be able to send invite links to your newly created channel via chats, e-mail, or posts online.
Adding another layer of privacy, your channel updates won’t stay there forever.
That’s a nice thing, especially in this day and age of having to be so careful of everything you post on the Internet with fear it could come back to haunt you years later. With WhatsApp channels, that will never happen.
As reported on by The Verge: “WhatsApp says privacy is a key part of the experience, which is why channel admin information isn’t shared and the app only stores 30 days’ worth of a channel’s history. Admins can even block screenshots and forwards, making sure that what’s in the channel stays in the channel. Channels aren’t end-to-end encrypted, though; they’re treated more like your messages with businesses, which are also not totally private. But WhatsApp does say it’s thinking about ways to encrypt some channels over time.”
WhatsApp further stated that they will be adding more ways to make updates disappear even faster than 30 days.
In addition, there are a few more plans in the works for the new feature. As explained by WhatsApp, “We also believe there is an opportunity to support admins with a way for them to build a business around their channel using our expanding payment services as well as the ability to promote certain channels in the directory to help increase awareness.”
So maybe… just maybe channels will be a new way for you to make cash off your content. We’ll see!
Stay tuned to WhatsApp updates for the launch.
Photo credit: iStock.com/hapabapa
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Alyssa Collins hails from Minnesota, where snowy days were the perfect excuse to stay warm inside and write. Over the years, she turned that joy into a career and has authored numerous articles for various publications (under pen names). Email Alyssa via alyssa@ynot.com.
