WhatsApp is rolling out ads. In an update on Monday, Meta announced that it will now show ads from businesses through its Stories-like status feature.

Meta says it will tailor the ads to your interests by using “limited” information, including your country or city, language, the channels you follow, and how you interact with ads on the platform. You can also change your ad preferences from Meta’s Accounts Center.

This isn’t the only change Meta is making to WhatsApp. The company will also start showing promoted channels when you click on the Explore button to find new ones to follow. It’s also rolling out the ability to subscribe to channels to “receive exclusive updates” as well.

  • FuryMaker@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    People are going to use whatever the majority use.

    I need to ude WhatsApp when i travel to countries egere it’s widely adopted. Just like I need tocuse Facebook if I want to partake in group chats with friends.

    They’re just too big. How is anything else supposed to take off? Just gradually maybe.

    So maybe Signal will get there in a few years? What’s itd adoption rate since it was created?

    • network_switch@lemmy.ml
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      6 hours ago

      It’s a slow grind for adoption. I’ve had Signal installed on my phone since like 2016. Went from one person I knew to now about ~30. It’s mostly people from work at tech companies but progressively I’ve noticed other industries employees adopting it for unofficial chat that my contacts list has been growing over the years. Probably won’t take off in a few years. Maybe another decade

    • Camelbeard@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      Family chatgroup, signal Work chatgroup, signal Half of my friends, signal

      Won’t be very long until I remove whatsapp from my phone. That one friend that doesn’t want to switch, call me I guess…

    • Schlemmy@lemmy.ml
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      7 hours ago

      That’s the main reason Signal uses phone numbers for verification.

      That way you can see which of your contact can be reached on their platform.

      I slowly diverted from WhatsApp to Signal in that way. I also have it in my WhatsApp bio: ‘‘You can reach me on Signal. Come on over, it’ll be fun’’

    • IndustryStandard@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Gradually is the answer. You can dual use both Signal and Whatsapp. Same how you can use Lemmy and Facebook and are not limited to one sociale media app.