What you need to know
- WhatsApp announced two new features to the platform, which are heavily inspired by Instagram.
- Users can now share statuses with private mentions, and the mentioned person will get a discreet notification.
- Plus, mentioned users can share the Status on their own profiles and even give it a like.
- Users on the receiving end will now be able to like WhatsApp Statuses of all in general.
WhatsApp rolled out Status updates a while back, similar to Instagram Stories. It's another fun way to stay connected with friends and family by sharing quick videos or photos that disappear after 24 hours. Now, the feature is getting a cool update to make it even more engaging.
According to a recent blog post from WhatsApp, users can now receive likes on their Status updates. The experience and interface appear familiar to Instagram Stories.
you can now 'Like' their Status 💚 it's an easy and quick way to say hey pic.twitter.com/HWoImCP8rzOctober 3, 2024
Just like Instagram Stories, users can now reshare their friends' WhatsApp Status updates if they're mentioned privately, which is new to the messaging platform.
In keeping with WhatsApp's signature green, the like/heart button for reactions will also be green, unlike the usual red or pink seen on other platforms. Plus, these likes will remain private.
"Status likes are private and don't have a counter, so only the person whose status you liked can see them as a in the list of viewers," WhatsApp notes in the blog post.
For mentions, WhatsApp users can tag close friends in their Status updates, allowing them to reshare the Status if they choose. The mentioned person will get a private notification, and the mention won’t be visible to anyone else on the user's contact list.
These new features were spotted in testing a few weeks ago, and it's exciting to see them already rolling out. WhatsApp confirmed it's a global rollout, so Android and iOS users should see the update soon.
Not very long ago, WhatsApp also rolled out another Instagram Stories-like feature: the ability to share longer video status updates. Previously, users could share only 30-second videos; however, after the update, users are able to share up to one minute video, just like Instagram, which isn't surprising since both are Meta-owned platforms.
