WhatsApp is testing a “lightweight text status” update similar to its parent company’s Instagram Notes, and reviving “About,” the original Status-like feature out of which Stories on Facebook and Instagram grew. Users can publish short updates that appear at the top of their one-on-one chats and on their profiles, with comments cycled through directly in the chat thread.
The move is a concession to the ambient, low-pressure sharing that has taken off on Instagram — the legions of concert and latte fans who no longer see any particular reason not to post them with abandon — while maintaining the privacy of private messaging. It is a small UI change, but one with potentially big implications for the way that conversations are initiated on the world’s largest messaging network.
What is changing in WhatsApp’s new About status notes
WhatsApp’s renewed About status allows you to share a brief text note that automatically clears after 24 hours. You can adjust the timer to have it disappear more quickly or hang around longer, and decide who sees it with easy visibility controls.
Placement is the notable upgrade. Now, your newest About status update is pinned to the top of one-on-one chats — and on your profile card — for everyone to see. Tapping on an About note opens a reply, turning what was previously just a static profile field into a true conversation starter.
It’s WhatsApp going full circle, in a sense. Before it blossomed into an end-to-end encrypted messaging utility, its initial feature was to serve as a text status line to let people know what you were up to. The new approach modernizes that concept for today’s messaging behaviors.
How WhatsApp’s About notes differ from Instagram Notes
Instagram Notes introduced ephemeral, social text that became a hit and which the company later extended to include music snippets and micro-looping video. WhatsApp’s approach very much prioritizes text first. So far, it does not have audio or video embellishments and integrations like music sharing.
That restraint fits WhatsApp’s ethos. The product was designed for people to talk quickly and privately, not broadcast content. Expect Meta to closely monitor engagement; if the people adopt About notes to break the ice, richer media options may follow.
Practical examples abound. A student could write “Offline studying for finals” to redirect messages without sounding too brusque. A colleague can share “On-site all afternoon, expect delayed replies.” Friends notice the cue there and friction goes away.
Why Meta is making this move for WhatsApp’s About notes
Ambient status sparks conversations. Notes, Instagram has said, helps people — particularly younger users — initiate chats they might not have otherwise. Bringing that dynamic to WhatsApp is no accident: with more than 2 billion users, even a marginal increase in message initiations amounts to whale-sized daily usage.
It’s also a continuation of Meta’s playbook to cross-pollinate features across its suite of apps while maintaining each app’s respective core. That transformed their usage patterns — WhatsApp Channels, for example, were quick to grow — Meta said hundreds of millions of people were following channels within months of them launching — by applying broadcast mechanics to a private messaging context. There are notes on sharing that make the same argument for weight.
According to the latest mobile market report by App Annie, WhatsApp is still among the most used apps worldwide in terms of monthly active users, and even time spent. Any feature that reduces the social overhead of uttering “what’s up” can have a huge impact on how people use it at that kind of scale.
Privacy settings and controls for WhatsApp About notes
Visibility works like the method WhatsApp already uses: You decide who can see your About status, and can change that audience as often as you want. Since comments live in the context of the chat, recipients can reply privately rather than clutter up a public thread.
The timer makes a difference for people with busy inboxes. Time-limited notes mean you can avoid manually wiping away old updates, and the reply-in-chat model means that responses are contained rather than transmitted. For small businesses, a straightforward “Away until 6pm” can establish expectations without having to toggle multiple settings.
Rollout timeline and what to watch as WhatsApp tests notes
WhatsApp says the feature is being rolled out on mobile from this week and that it will continue to roll out in the coming weeks. Look for lightning-fast A/B testing of character limits, where a story appears in the chat list, and defaults on who reads your posts as Meta dials for engagement and safety.
The question is whether those About notes become a habit. That is, if users can be counted on to reliably add a short line every day, then WhatsApp has a new shallow surface for presence — useful for friends, families and even work group presences. If adoption follows that of Instagram Notes, richer media and music tie-ins are the next steps in play.
For the moment, there is simplicity here. And a few words posted precisely where the conversations are going on can nudge more of them into beginning. Indeed, that is the kind of small product bet that at WhatsApp’s size can have an outsized impact.
