Head of Whatsapp Denies Reports of App Changes
By Madison Burgess
Published: 10:35 BST, 1 October 2023 | Updated: 10:38 BST, 1 October 2023
The Head of Whatsapp at Meta, Will Cathcart, has debunked reports that a massive change is coming for the popular messaging app. Users feared the worst after the Financial Times published an article claiming that teams at Meta have been discussing whether to show ads in Whatsapp for the first time.
Cathcart quickly shut down the theory, tweeting “This @FT story is false. We aren’t doing this.” Jokingly adding, “Also it looks like you misspelled Brian’s name,” referring to Brian Acton, co-founder of Whatsapp.
The Financial Times later amended the article, writing “This article has been updated to incorporate Cathcart’s comments and to correct the spelling of Brian Acton’s name.” A community note was also added to a tweet linking the article on X, letting users know that the Head of Whatsapp claims it is false.
One pleased user replied, “Please never do that! Whatsapp is just amazing the way it is right now.” Another added, “Thank goodness for @CommunityNotes.”
However, not everyone was against the move. Some users were actually disappointed it had been disproven. Someone said, “But that would have been a great strategy,” with another commenter arguing back, “It would certainly not be a strategy, rather a distraction and annoying to say the least. Imagine you’re chatting and from nowhere you see unnecessary ads popping up. Whatsapp is fine without it.”
Others thought the app had already introduced ads, asking, “But I’m already getting recommended news, media outlet channels, celebrity channels in my WhatsApp status section. How’s that different from ads?” Another questioned, “So you are definitely not discussing whether to show ads in lists of conversations with contacts on the WhatsApp chat screen, but no final decisions have been made? Or not discussing ads at all?”
While someone else wrote, “Cool, how are you planning to monetize WhatsApp?” The messaging app boss is yet to respond to the floods of queries.
It comes after the app is reportedly preparing to make some major changes to its platform, with new design features supposedly coming to iPhone and Android. Insiders claim that Mark Zuckerberg’s messaging app could have a complete makeover in the coming months, with a series of design tweaks in the works, including revamped colors and new buttons.
Share or comment on this article: Whatsapp boss denies Meta are set to start introducing ADVERTS to the messaging system to create a new income stream for the company
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