WhatsApp channels: What is this new feature that will soon arrive in France?

Channels, known to Telegram and Instagram users, are a new feature launched by WhatsApp, allowing Internet users to chat vertically with their subscribers.

Haven’t downloaded WhatsApp on your smartphone yet? Created in 2009, this instant messenger has become a must-have for groups of friends, colleagues or professionals who want to share their thoughts.

Send messages, photos, videos, geotabs, voice notes… Everything is possible on the app with a green phone logo. Although, The company announced on Wednesday, September 13 The new feature will soon be available in France and in more than 150 countries.

Since June, the channels have been tested in Colombia and Singapore. They provide the possibility for brands, companies and creators to connect with their community unilaterally and privately.

This communication method uses the principle of the recently available Telegram distribution channels on Instagram. Regarding the latter, channels have proven to be a good way to strengthen the relationship between influencers and their audience. In WhatsApp, the new service can instead represent a distinct space for communication between institutions and the media.

This new functionality will eventually make it possible to follow thematic accounts to benefit from information related to different topics such as road traffic, weather, cooking recipes, etc.

The goal is to offer the “most private” streaming service, the app teams noted. This is because the channels are separate from general discussions, and other subscribers cannot find who the user chooses to follow.

Additional services for global startups

On the occasion of the international launch of channels on WhatsApp, some additional features have been added:

Improved guide

Channels to be followed will be automatically recommended and filtered based on the user’s country of residence by the app. The goal is to more easily find new channels, the most active and the most popular according to the number of subscribers they have.

Interactions

It will be possible to interact using emojis with messages received from transmitters on the channels and know the total number of interactions. Individual interactions will not be shown to other subscribers, but will only be visible as a whole.

the changes

Channel administrators will be able to edit their news for 30 days. After this period, WhatsApp will automatically delete messages from its servers.

transformation

When a user uploads news to discussions or groups, messages will include a link to the channel.

Currently, the channels are still in the publishing phase. It should be available to all users in the coming weeks.