WhatsApp users have reacted to the plans to introduce ads on the messenger app as a monetization strategy.
Responding to the announcement on Reddit on 16 June, the users said they would switch to other apps, while others said they will simply dump the app.
Is Meta going too far?
WhatsApp has been free to use since its creation in 2009 and after its acquisition by Meta 2014. However, several new features have been added to the app since, making it more versatile and many have appreciated it.
Meta seems to be spoiling the show by introducing ads though. According to the company, WhatsApp will now have:
“channel subscriptions, promoted channels and ads in Status in the WhatsApp Updates tab to help you find channels and products you’re interested in.”
Although this sounds harmless and almost helpful, users are obviously not happy with the move, causing them to consider options.
Users interested in certain channels will have to subscribe to the channels to “support” them. In turn, channels will also be allowed to promote their channels by paying the platform to favour their channels.
Perhaps the most uninteresting is that there will be ads in status, which means you can be interrupted by an ad while trying to view a friend’s status.
The only way to avoid the ads is to just use your app strictly for chatting without viewing statuses, which is almost impossible at this point.
WhatsApp started talking about monetizing the platform in 2018 but for some reasons it did not implement it until now.
Meta however maintains that the privacy of users remains a high priority, as all chats remain end-to-end encrypted, meaning not even WhatsApp staff can see what users are chatting about.
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