Meta has now expanded its WhatsApp feature WhatsApp Channels to more than 150 countries, giving it global coverage. At the same time, new functionality has also been added.
In June of this year, WhatsApp launched its Channels functionality. It lets users easily, reliably and privately receive important updates from companies or users. It is a one-way sending tool that allows administrators to send text, photos, videos, surveys and stickers to recipients. Only the administrator can share content. This makes it a useful tool for community building, among other things.
Meanwhile, after a trial period in 10 countries, the availability of WhatsApp Channels has been expanded to 150 countries. This gives the service global coverage, the Meta subsidiary stated in a blog.
New functionality
In addition to further distribution, new functionality has also been added. Among other things, an improved directory is now available. Channels are now filtered based on the user’s location and country. It is also possible to see which channels are new, most active and popular.
For comments, it is now possible to respond with emojis and to see the total number of comments on a post. Comments are not visible to other followers. In addition, administrators can edit a post for up to 30 days after it has been posted. After this period, posts are automatically deleted from the WhatsApp Channel servers.
Furthermore, forwarded updates automatically include a link to the original post in the corresponding channel. In this way, recipients of these forwarded posts can learn more.
Also read: WhatsApp tests feature to send messages directly to Telegram and Signal