WhatsApp is Testing Custom Audience Lists for Ephemeral Status Updates

WhatsApp has started testing custom audience lists for its ephemeral “Status” updates that disappear after 24 hours. WABetaInfo reports that the more flexible system is now being tested with select users running the latest beta versions of WhatsApp for iOS and Android.

As of today, WhatsApp lets users share ephemeral Status updates with all their contacts, but they can also select contacts to exclude from their Status audience. It’s also possible to only share Status updates with select contacts, but creating custom lists should simplify that process.

Instagram, which also offers ephemeral “stories”, allows users to create a ‘Close friends’ list for sharing content like posts, notes, reels, and stories. According to images shared by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is getting a similar Close friends list, as well as the ability to create custom lists with unique names to share Status updates.

If there’s certainly a feature overlap across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook (which also offers ephemeral stories), I’d say that WhatsApp, which remains a messaging app first and foremost, is more “private” than Meta’s other two platforms. WhatsApp’s Statuts updates can be useful for sharing ephemeral updates with a smaller list of contacts, and the ability to create custom audience lists may help to make the feature less intimidating for some users.