WhatsApp Channels Gets Stickers As It Crosses 500 Monthly Active Users

This development comes amid reports of WhatsApp planning to put ads in Status and Channels, but not inbox.

WhatsApp unveiled its feature -- Channels -- in India and more than 150 countries globally, in September this year.

Source : WhatsApp

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that WhatsApp Channels has surpassed 500 million monthly active users. Meta-owned WhatsApp Channels hit this feat in seven weeks of launch. WhatsApp Channels is a new way to get updates from people, organisations and teams users follow on the platform. It is to be noted that Channels are different from private chats, and who users choose to follow is not visible to other followers. WhatsApp is introducing a new feature for Channels, Stickers, as it gains 500 MAUs.

Zuckerberg, announced the news on his WhatsApp Channel and wrote: “500 million monthly actives on WhatsApp Channels in the first 7 weeks! Great to see the WA community so engaged.”

This development comes amid reports of WhatsApp planning to put ads in Status and Channels, but not inbox. This is being seen as the world's most popular messaging platform's attempt to broaden its revenue streams and improve the overall user experience. It should be noted that WhatsApp does not intend to display advertisements in the primary inbox, it is likely to introduce ads within Status, which resembles the app's Stories, and in Channels, said a previous report by TechCrunch.

In an interview with Brazilian media, Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, mentioned that the company has no intentions of displaying ads in the primary inbox, but is considering the possibility of displaying ads in other sections of the messaging app.

To recall, WhatsApp unveiled its feature -- Channels -- in India and more than 150 countries globally, in September this year. This new feature is similar to Instagram's Broadcast channel, lets users communicate with their connections through one-way channels, simplifying the dissemination of messages to large groups.

To access the Channels feature, WhatsApp introduces a dedicated tab named "Updates." Here, users can conveniently view Status updates and the channels they choose to follow, keeping these interactions separate from their personal conversations with friends, family, and communities. Moreover, channels can be accessed through invitation links shared in chats, emails, or posted online.

Similar to Instagram Broadcast channels, users on WhatsApp Channels can react to updates and provide feedback using emojis. The total number of reactions will be displayed, but administrators' individual reactions will remain private.