WhatsApp hasn’t done a complete U-turn on Status, but it is bringing back the feature that it replaced, a simple text-only status that sits next to each user’s profile. Users running the latest Android beta version of WhatsApp reported the feature has reappeared, giving them the option to update their contacts via text or video Status. Users can view Status of their contacts by opening their contact when stating a new chat of even by looking at the group chat info.
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Facebook Stories emphasizes a new tool called “Direct”, which appears to be an attempt to clone Snapchat’s one-to-one and group messaging interface.
First Instagram and now Facebook to copy Snapchat.
The feature let users share photos, GIFS and videos overlaid with colourful drawings and emojis, and they would disappear after 24 hours.
The decision to keep the Status feature all plays into WhatsApp’s plans to begin monetising the app after years of either charging a small amount, or nothing, as it does now. Facebook Stories resemble what the company introduced in Messenger and Instagram, but since Messenger Day and Instagram Stories are Snapchat Stories ripoffs, the new addition indirectly follows the same trend.
Whatsapp has recently updated the text status feature. The tab will also list the status updates of other users.
Facebook has reportedly started rolling out Stories, a feature similar to Instagram Stories, for its users in Chile, Greece and Vietnam. Just like Instagram Stories, Stories from your friends appear at the top of the Facebook app’s interface.
With the launch of Messenger Day, Facebook is arguably repeating this same pattern, sacrificing the user experience for a strategic objective.
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Stories will create some changes in the entire app, including messenger. Though the change is already available in Android Beta version of WhatsApp. The three analysts behind the note claim that Snap’s valuations “looks stretched to us both based on the future cash flows of the business and when compared to peers like Facebook and Google at IPO”.
