WhatsApp is now also launching its new “channels” function in Belgium and dozens of other countries after a limited test. The company, part of Meta, announced this on Wednesday.
Celebrities, companies or organizations can start a channel where only they can send messages to a wide audience. Anyone can subscribe to the channels. The updates remain available for thirty days, after which they disappear automatically.
The feature is very similar to Telegram’s public channels, but the options for responding to the messages are more limited. Followers can only respond with emojis. WhatsApp says privacy is its greatest asset. The phone number and profile photo of the channel administrators and followers remain hidden.
The channels function will appear in a new tab in the app: “Updates”. This replaces “Status”. There will be an overview of the channels that the WhatsApp user follows, separate from the private chats. WhatsApp is gradually rolling out the feature, so not everyone will have access right away.
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