It’s fair to say that by this point in time WhatsApp has become the single most popular messaging platform in the world. While the main purpose of this platform has always been to try and make it so that you are able to communicate with your friends and loved ones, the reality of instant communication has made it so that WhatsApp has had to look into the numerous other uses for its platform that its various users might have.
One use that a lot of people have found for WhatsApp has to do with communicating with businesses. Since it is an instant messaging service, you could ostensibly communicate with a wide variety of people through it, and this means that you can also look into businesses that you want to work with, businesses that are going to provide you with products and services that you could very well be interested in. WhatsApp essentially realized that it could play a role in easing communications between consumers and businesses, which is why it started offering a lot of business accounts for people that wanted to communicate with potential customers on the platform.
However, while businesses are an accepted part of the WhatsApp ecosystem, it’s fair to say that a lot of them have started to abuse a lot of the benefits that WhatsApp provides. For example, certain businesses have become notorious for spreading bulk messages and the like. It’s quite annoying to get messages on WhatsApp only to find that it is some business that is trying to advertise a new product or service that it is attempting to sell. This could lead to a lot of people no longer wanting to use WhatsApp since it would no longer be a place where they can just connect with their friends and family in a real way.
Automated bulk message sending has become a real issue on the platform, which is why WhatsApp has taken steps to try and prevent it from becoming even more serious than it would have been otherwise. According to WhatsApp, accounts that send bulk, non personal or automated messages are violating the terms of service. If any account is found to be in violation of the terms of use that you have to adhere to while using WhatsApp, the account itself will be banned and WhatsApp has announced that it will start taking legal action against these people starting from today (i.e December 7, 2019).
This obviously doesn’t mean that business accounts are no longer going to work on the platform. The only thing that needs to be kept in mind is that WhatsApp is to be used for communication, not for advertising or spamming. Businesses will still be allowed to send and receive messages with customers since this is the kind of interaction that WhatsApp encourages. They just won’t be able to send bulk messages the way they used to.
This will probably end up making WhatsApp a much more reliable product for a lot of people. After all, the main reason so many people don’t like using SMS is because they get so many spam messages on it, and if WhatsApp follows that same route then chances are that people would end up abandoning this service as well.
Photo: SOPA Images via Getty Images
Hat Tip: Matt Navarra.
Read next: Crises Response Tool by Facebook – New Updates and WhatsApp Integration
One use that a lot of people have found for WhatsApp has to do with communicating with businesses. Since it is an instant messaging service, you could ostensibly communicate with a wide variety of people through it, and this means that you can also look into businesses that you want to work with, businesses that are going to provide you with products and services that you could very well be interested in. WhatsApp essentially realized that it could play a role in easing communications between consumers and businesses, which is why it started offering a lot of business accounts for people that wanted to communicate with potential customers on the platform.
However, while businesses are an accepted part of the WhatsApp ecosystem, it’s fair to say that a lot of them have started to abuse a lot of the benefits that WhatsApp provides. For example, certain businesses have become notorious for spreading bulk messages and the like. It’s quite annoying to get messages on WhatsApp only to find that it is some business that is trying to advertise a new product or service that it is attempting to sell. This could lead to a lot of people no longer wanting to use WhatsApp since it would no longer be a place where they can just connect with their friends and family in a real way.
Automated bulk message sending has become a real issue on the platform, which is why WhatsApp has taken steps to try and prevent it from becoming even more serious than it would have been otherwise. According to WhatsApp, accounts that send bulk, non personal or automated messages are violating the terms of service. If any account is found to be in violation of the terms of use that you have to adhere to while using WhatsApp, the account itself will be banned and WhatsApp has announced that it will start taking legal action against these people starting from today (i.e December 7, 2019).
This obviously doesn’t mean that business accounts are no longer going to work on the platform. The only thing that needs to be kept in mind is that WhatsApp is to be used for communication, not for advertising or spamming. Businesses will still be allowed to send and receive messages with customers since this is the kind of interaction that WhatsApp encourages. They just won’t be able to send bulk messages the way they used to.
This will probably end up making WhatsApp a much more reliable product for a lot of people. After all, the main reason so many people don’t like using SMS is because they get so many spam messages on it, and if WhatsApp follows that same route then chances are that people would end up abandoning this service as well.
Photo: SOPA Images via Getty Images
Hat Tip: Matt Navarra.
Read next: Crises Response Tool by Facebook – New Updates and WhatsApp Integration
