Back in July, WhatsApp Channels was launched in Malaysia to have private broadcasts with your customers or fans. Just a few hours ago, Mark Zuckerberg announced that WhatsApp Channels will finally be rolling out globally with more new channels that people can follow.
Launching across over 150 countries, WhatsApp is adding thousands of organisations, sports teams, artists and thought leaders that you can follow within WhatsApp. Channels are separate from your chats, and who you choose to follow is not visible to other followers. WhatsApp also protects the personal information of both admins and followers.
As WhatsApp expand Channels globally, there are a couple of new updates that you can refer to below:
- Enhanced Directory - You can now find channels to follow that are automatically filtered based on your country. You can also view channels that are new, most active, and popular based on the number of followers.
- Reactions - You can react using emojis to give feedback and see a count of total reactions. How you react will not be shown to followers.
- Editing - Coming soon, admins will be able to make changes to their Updates for up to 30 days, when we automatically delete them from our servers.
- Forwarding - Whenever you forward an Update to chats or groups it will include a link back to the channel so people can find out more.
Since being available to Malaysia users in July, a wide range of organisations have started their own channels, such as Zoo Negara Malaysia, Mental Illness Awareness & Support Association (MIASA) and Badminton World Federation (BWF), besides global ones like Real Madrid, Man City and UNICEF. As aforementioned, you can find channels based on your country.
WhatsApp will continue to add more features and expand Channels based on feedback we get from users. Over the coming months, the company will also make it possible for anyone to create a channel. You can follow the official WhatsApp Channel to get more direct updates.
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