Your WhatsApp status is becoming more like Instagram Stories

WhatsApp is introducing new social capabilities to its status feature. The messaging app will now let you add private mentions to your status, just like you would tag someone in Instagram Stories.

When you “mention” a.k.a tag someone in your WhatsApp Status, they will be notified privately, and the mention won’t show on your status. This is how WhatsApp’s feature differs from Instagram, where anyone can see the people mentioned in Stories. Privately mentioned users will be able to reshare a status should they wish to do so.

Moreover, WhatsApp has also introduced the ability to like statuses. With a single tap of a new green heart button, you can now like your contacts’ status updates. These likes will be private and won’t have a counter. That means users cannot see how many likes a status has received. Only the person whose status you liked can see them in a list of viewers.

These updates to WhatsApp’s status feature are rolling out now and will be available globally to all users very soon. WhatsApp says more new features will be added to the Status and Updates tabs in the coming months.