WhatsApp Users Will Soon Be Able to Share Status Updates as Facebook and Instagram Stories

Meta announced today that it will soon allow WhatsApp users to share their ephemeral status updates as “Stories” on Instagram and Facebook. This will require WhatsApp users to add their account to Meta’s Accounts Center, which already enables cross-posting features on Instagram and Facebook.

As of today, Instagram users who connected their account with their Facebook account in Meta’s account center can easily share their Instagram posts to Facebook and their ephemeral Instagram stories as Facebook stories. It’s also possible to allow all future posts and stories to be shared on Facebook automatically. Soon, WhatsApp Status updates will support the same cross-posting experience.

“While adding your WhatsApp to Accounts Center is completely optional and off by default, it can help those who want features to work more seamlessly across apps,” Meta explained today. “For example it’ll be easier to reshare updates from your WhatsApp Status to Facebook or Instagram Stories and show your friends what’s happening in your life without having to post multiple times.”

For WhatsApp users, the other benefit of adding their account to Meta’s Account Center will be able to use single sign-on to log in more easily to their account. Meta also emphasized that adding a WhatsApp account to its Accounts Center won’t impact WhatsApp’s default encryption for messages and calls, which means neither Meta nor WhatsApp can access users’ personal data.

Meta owns three of the most popular communication platforms with a combined user base of three billion monthly active users, and while these cross-posting and data-sharing features remain entirely optional, more of them are already in the pipeline. “Over time we’ll keep adding more features that work across our apps for people who want them, like the ability to manage your avatars, Meta AI stickers and your Imagine Me creations all in one place,” the company said today.