WhatsApp opens channels – Kommersant FM
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WhatsApp announced the launch of channels in the messenger. The company promised that in the coming months, authors will be able to publish texts, photos, videos, polls and stickers in them. According to the developers, the channels will be located in a separate tab from the chats. And the resources to which the user is subscribed will be visible only to him. Administrators will also have new features. They will be able to decide who has the right to subscribe to the channel, whether screenshots and message forwarding are allowed there.
Will they be popular? The founder of the PurpleDoor advertising agency, Alexey Pak, believes that this format is now in demand among the audience:
“A lot of people use WhatsApp Business. At the same time, the messenger is also popular among the older generation, whose representatives for some reason do not switch to Telegram. It is clear that WhatsApp borrowed the idea of channels from Telegram. But from a development point of view, why not? On the contrary, this is good. Now a simple messenger does not surprise anyone.
I don’t think that WhatsApp channels will compete with Telegram. If we are talking about indicators, coverage, the number of audiences on the channel, Telegram will be 100% leading. The question is: what will be more effective? For example, many people use Telegram to watch memes or read some news. WhatsApp can fill a business niche.”
WhatsApp said it has already made its own channel and encouraged users to subscribe. “Kommersant FM” followed the link, but was still unable to view the content. The notification said that “the channels are currently unavailable to you.” Although the company previously promised to release the update for all countries at once. The announcement also says that the new feature is already being used by “thousands of organizations, sports teams, artists and opinion leaders.” Are Russian businesses planning to develop WhatsApp channels?
“Kommersant FM” discussed this issue with entrepreneurs who are already attracting customers using Telegram:
Mikhail Goncharov, general director of the Teremok restaurant chain of Russian cuisine: “Business has the broadest approach – we use all available channels. And since no one knows whether any new messenger or social network will work well, we usually try to master them from the very beginning. I think we’ll try WhatsApp channels, it has a lot of users.”
Alexan Mkrtchyan, CEO of the Pink Elephant travel agency network: “This is convenient for promoting your product and promptly informing customers. Therefore, why not. Typically, of course, agencies are unlikely to specifically create different content. Of course, in most cases it will be duplicated.”
Natalya Bakhurina, founder of the Good Deal real estate agency: “There have been no such plans yet. We work with Telegram and VKontakte. There were no wishes regarding WhatsApp; clients want to see a channel on Telegram. Some people need a lot of clients, but for us this is not necessary, we are a small real estate agency. And if we launch in all channels, we will not be able to cope with the flow.”
At the end of 2022, Telegram overtook WhatsApp in terms of traffic volume for the first time, Vedomosti reported, citing data from the Big Four operators. WhatsApp is owned by Meta, which a Russian court has declared an extremist organization. As a result, Instagram and Facebook were blocked. The sanctions did not affect WhatsApp because it was not used for mass dissemination of information before the introduction of the channels function. After the company announced the updates, the State Duma admitted that the status of the messenger in Russia could be revised.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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