After a long wait, WhatsApp has activated the channels generally in 150 countries, taking over the ‘States’ tab, which is now called News.
Channels are a new way of using WhatsApp not to talk to other people, but to keep you informed of what other people publish, whether they are organizations, influencers or any other entity. Below we will tell you exactly what they consist of and We resolve other doubts about WhatsApp channels.
What are WhatsApp channels
Lets start by the beginning. WhatsApp channels are a new form of one-way communication by which one entity creates posts and the rest can basically read what is shared. If you already know the Telegram channels, this is the same thing.
In this way, you can use WhatsApp to stay up to date with everything that is said Mark Zuckerberg, the real Madrid, Call of Duty either AuronPlay. The channel owner can create posts similar to those of a normal WhatsApp chat, with text, images and moreto inform followers without leaving WhatsApp.
As standard, you have to enter each channel to see what has been published but, like on YouTube, you have the option to “hit the bell” so that You get a notification every time something new is published. For this to happen, you must first have subscribed to the channel.
Where are the channels
You will find the WhatsApp channels, when you have them active in your account, throughout the center of the application, in the “new” ‘News’ tab. ‘New’, in quotes, as it is actually the old ‘States’ tab, but with most of the space taken up by the channels and a small row at the top for the states.
Until you subscribe to some channels, in that tab you will find Suggestions for channels to follow and a button to Search channels which opens a complete directory where you can find channels to follow.
How to subscribe to channels on WhatsApp
When you find a WhatsApp channel of interest to you, you have two ways to subscribe. From the directory itself you can do it by pressing the + buttonor in the suggestions, pressing Continue.
You are free from First open the channel to see what’s happening and then decide if you are going to subscribe or not. In this case, you can subscribe from the channel itself with the button Continue of the top bar. If you ever change your mind, you can easily unfollow any channel by opening it and using the ⋮ menu and Stop following.
What you can do in the channels
As we mentioned before, channels are a unidirectional mode of communication, so There’s not much you can do beyond consuming the content.. Fortunately, a few days before the global launch, Meta added the ability to react to a channel’s posts.
This way, you can send the six classic reactions to any post: 👍, ❤️, 😂, 😮, 😢 or 🙏, with no option to use other emojis. Anyone can see how many reactions of each type each post hasbut not who sent them.
How to create a channel
Creating a channel will be easy but not everyone can do it yet
Initially, WhatsApp does not allow us to create channels and this function seems reserved for special accounts of organizations or personalities who have verified your identity.
However, the form to create channels is within WhatsApp and it seems that, if they decide to open it to everyone at some point, it will be quite easy to create a channel with just two steps.
And the privacy?
You don’t have to worry about your phone number: Neither other people nor administrators will be able to see your number of the channel, as profile privacy is activated.
The only way for administrators to see your full number is if they already have you saved in their contacts. Otherwise, what you will see will be a couple of digits and the country code.
How states are created now
Don’t be afraid for your WhatsApp statuses. While the tab they had just for themselves has been addressed by the channels, the states are going ahead and you have two ways to create them: with the floating button shown in the ‘News’ tab or with the camera button, in the top bar of WhatsApp.
For see the statuses of your contacts, you also have two options. In the chat list, you’ll see when a contact has posted something by displaying a ring around their profile photo. Additionally, the statuses are still visible in the tab Newsabove all.
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