Popular messaging application WhatsApp has changed a lot of things with its new ‘Status’ update. WhatsApp as a social media platform is turning the Facebook-Instagram way by giving users passive content which could mean there will new options for making money through advertising. The new feature called ‘Status’ on WhatsApp enables the users to share pictures, videos, GIFs, doodles, smileys with their contact list. These items disappear the next day, after being visible for 24 hours. Does this ring a bell? Of course, it does. Snapchat Stories had first introduced this innovative ephemeral timeline feature on its application. Facebook had earlier copied the same feature for its other social media property, Instagram, and the cloning was so blatant that they did not even change the name, and called it Instagram Stories. So, this move for WhatsApp cloning design and functionality of Snapchat is hardly surprising. Anyway, innovation has lost its founding in the Silicon Valley now, as it is more about leveraging other features and raising the user base. The question right now is, will Snap focus more on its hardware in order to stay relevant?
But this update means so much more than what it meant for Instagram. It changes the way people have been using the application for a long time now. People will be able to do more than just read and text on the app, as it will ensure more time to scroll endlessly through user’s content. This opens more avenues for businesses and advertisements on the app. According to WhatsApp, it had been planning to make way for advertisers to share content with people on the app without being obstructive, but that looked a bit far fetched. Now, with the Status feature, Facebook will be able to rake in billions through WhatsApp as businesses will be able to put videos into the user NewsFeed.
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Also read | WhatsApp’s Snapchat-like feature: Now add pictures & videos in your ‘status update’
While WhatsApp had been against letting advertisers enter the app, but there seems to be no other way to earn revenue now, and there is no reason to not take such a move as the application now boasts of 1.2 billion users. While this may look like a Snapchat copy, essentially WhatsApp seems to be building what it had set out to, long time back. It had wanted the Status feature to be the best it can be to make it the most popular messaging app in the world. In the new update, the status will still remain as is it, besides the picture and name of a WhatsApp user. The new Status will, however, move to a separate tab with a ‘plus’ sign which will take the user to the WhatsApp camera.
