WhatsApp Channels surpasses 500 million monthly active users

WhatsApp Channels has surpassed 500 million monthly active users since its launch on September 29.

Channels is a way to get updates from people, organizations, and teams that a user follows on WhatsApp. It is separate from a user's private chats, and who one chooses to follow is not visible to other followers.

“500 million monthly actives on WhatsApp Channels in the first 7 weeks! Great to see the WA community so engaged," WhatsApp parent Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on his WhatsApp Channel.


Apart from this, the instant messaging app said it has launched stickers on Channels.

"We’ve heard great feedback so far – users are enjoying getting updates from channels they follow. And admins are using Channels as a way to connect with their followers in a new format," the company said in a statement.

Some Channels that people are enjoying in India include International Cricket Council, Mumbai Indians, Indian Cricket Team, Diljit Dosanjh, Katrina Kaif, Allu Arjun, Vijay Deverakonda, Chef Ranveer Brar, TechBurner and more, WhatsApp said.

The company said it will continue to add more features and expand Channels based on feedback it gets from users.

Last week, Zuckerberg told The New York Times in an interview that WhatsApp is the "next chapter" for Meta and could play a critical role in business messaging.

"Now that everyone has mobile phones and are basically producing content and messaging all day long, I think you can do something that's a lot better and more intimate than just a feed of all your friends," Zuckerberg told NYT.

"If you're envisioning what will be the private social platform of the future, starting from scratch, I think it would basically look like WhatsApp," he said.

WhatsApp has more than two billion monthly active users (MAU), and in India, its largest market with over 400 million users, its revenues being close to $1 billion, as per estimates.

"India (is) a country that’s at the forefront... You’re leading the world in terms of how people and businesses have embraced messaging,” Zuckerberg had said in a virtual address at Meta’s annual event in Mumbai recently.

“We’ve continued to innovate with our messaging formats, our group chats and broadcast channels... [And we’re] creating simple to use and easy to scale tools so they (businesses) can connect with their customers in meaningful ways,” he had said, while emphasising that he sees business messaging as a “major monetisation opportunity."