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Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp is experimenting with a new Status feature that lets users share mood-setting pictures and videos overlaid with\u00a0other custom elements such as emoji, with the content disappearing 24 hours after it\u2019s shared \u2014 so basically a copy\u00a0of\u00a0Snapchat Stories.<\/p>\n
The test\u00a0feature\u00a0was spotted on Friday by BGR India<\/a>\u00a0which says Status sharing is\u00a0only currently available to registered public beta testers of WhatsApp\u00a0who are using\u00a0a rooted Android or iOS device.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve reached out to WhatsApp with questions and will update this story with any response.<\/p>\n In the Android version of the beta the main WhatsApp message screen now has a tab called \u2018Status\u2019, sitting between \u2018Chats\u2019 on the left and \u2018Calls\u2019 on the right.\u00a0And while it\u2019s always been possible to set a status message in WhatsApp, which is visible when someone views your profile, the new Status tab does not replace that traditional status message; rather it\u2019s a whole additional channel aimed at\u00a0encouraging users to share ephemeral and primarily\u00a0visual content with their friends.<\/p>\n As with Snapchat Stories, once a user has snapped a photo or recorded a video to share within this channel\u00a0they are offered a range of editing tools to augment the content \u2014 such as by drawing on\u00a0a colorful scribble or adding\u00a0and positioning\u00a0emoji. Status also lets users\u00a0add a caption to further explain whatever they\u2019re posting. A\u00a0send\u00a0button shares the Status with the user\u2019s WhatsApp contacts.<\/p>\n The beta app shares Status content for 24 hours, according to BGR, with no way for users to manually delete a Status after they\u2019ve shared it at this point, nor set\u00a0a longer (or shorter)\u00a0lifespan for the content. Users are able to\u00a0specify which of their contacts can receive Status updates \u2014 either by selecting a handful manually or choosing all and excluding a few manually (or indeed selecting all contacts to spam everyone with all\u00a0Status content).<\/p>\n Snapchat launched its Stories ephemeral timeline<\/a>\u00a0three years ago, and the sharing feature has proved\u00a0hugely popular\u00a0\u2014 driving massive\u00a0quantities\u00a0of daily video views for Snapchat (it reported 10 billion daily video views<\/a>\u00a0as of this April). So it\u2019s clear why Facebook is firing up its photocopiers.<\/p>\n And while\u00a0it\u2019s taken Zuck co\u00a0a while to respond directly to their rival\u2019s\u00a0ephemeral sharing format, they\u00a0now seem intent\u00a0on rolling out a clone of the\u00a0feature\u00a0across their social board\u00a0\u2014 with Facebook-owned Instagram launching a near carbon copy feature, Instagram Stories<\/a>, this summer; and\u00a0a\u00a0Stories clone called Messenger Day<\/a>\u00a0also being tested on Facebook Messenger this fall.<\/p>\n In recent times Facebook has been prioritizing video content<\/a>,\u00a0as part of a successful push to drive video ad revenue. So getting WhatsApp\u2019s network of one billion+ active monthly\u00a0users more accustomed to sharing visual content clearly feeds into that play. Especially after the Facebook-owned company\u00a0announced a huge\u00a0change to its privacy policy this summer<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 which implies\u00a0it will\u00a0start allowing businesses to show\u00a0ads to users.<\/p>\n![\"WhatsApp](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/0f4a9_screen-shot-2016-11-05-at-11-13-18-pm.png?resize=630%2C382\")
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