WhatsApp Channels feature will bring social media to the app

WhatsApp is embracing social media with its new Channels feature which will allow accounts to create and view posts without sharing personal details.

The company is expanding its messaging and calling feature to broadcast messages so that users can join a variety of different channels pertaining to different subjects.

A channel admin can create and post a variety of different content from text and polls, to photos and videos. The one-way broadcast can share various mediums of information that followers can view but not interact with or comment on. Administrator details such as phone number and profile picture will also be concealed from Channel followers.

The posts will be visible to followers for up to 30 days and will then disappear across all devices. The company says admins can also block screenshots and post forwarding, while also hiding their channel from general search and allowing certain followers to be a part of the group.

According to WhatsApp, it will continue to act first as a private messaging app and then Channels will come second, which had been requested by users for years. The feature will debut in select countries today, while it will globally roll out in the coming months.