WhatsApp users will now be able to receive updates from their favourite brands, sports teams, artists, and thought leaders via WhatsApp.
WhatsApp Channels, which was first introduced in June in a handful of regions, will now be available in over 150 countries.
Channels are separate from chats, and who you choose to follow is not visible to other followers.
On Wednesday, Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg shared the news along with a link to his WhatsApp Channel.
‘We’re welcoming thousands of new channels to WhatsApp like Olivia Rodrigo, David Guetta, Billboard, MLB, Diljit Dosanjh,’ said Meta in a statement.
‘In the UK, look out for creators like Diary of a CEO and BOSH and football teams including Liverpool FC, Man City, and more.’
The tech giant said it was rolling out the feature globally over the next few weeks. If you can’t see it yet, you can join the waitlist to be notified once it is available.
How does WhatsApp Channels work?
Channels will be available in a new tab called Updates – where you’ll find Status and channels you choose to follow – separate from your chats with family, friends, and communities.
It is a one-way broadcast tool for admins to send text, photos, videos, stickers, and polls.
To help you select channels to follow, you have a searchable directory to find Channels related to your hobbies, sports teams, updates from local officials, etc.
You can also get to a channel from invite links sent in chats, e-mail, or posted online.
Users can also find channels to follow that are automatically filtered based on their country. They can also view new, most active, and popular channels based on the number of followers.
You can react using emojis to give feedback and see a count of total reactions. How you react will not be shown to followers.
If you forward an Channel Update to chats or groups it will include a link back to the channel so people can find out more.
WhatsApp said it would add more features and expand Channels based on feedback we get from users. It added that it was working on making it possible for anyone to create a channel ‘over the coming months’.
To hear about more product updates directly from WhatsApp, they’ve also launched an official WhatsApp Channel for that.
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