WhatsApp got a big drop in its viral message forwarding message feature after Facebook-owned social messaging application imposed limitations on the time a user could send the same message to others. WhatsApp says the global ‘highly forwarded message’ criterion has dropped by 70% since the limit was imposed.
The decision to limit the flow of forwarded messages among users has been made to prevent the spread of viral and fake messages on its platform, especially when most of the world is in lockdown due to the novel Coronavirus.
That’s why the company says the change helps protect chats and personal information shared through the app. WhatsApp is committed to fulfilling our role in resolving viral messages. We recently introduced the limit for sharing a chat with ‘highly forwarded messages’.
Since the new limit was imposed, the number of over-forwarded messages sent to WhatsApp globally has dropped by 70%. This change is supporting WhatsApp to create room for personal and private conversations. Beginning this month, WhatsApp included a restriction earlier this month that allowed users to send messages to only one user or group at a time.
Once the message has been transferred 5 times on the platform, the restrictions apply. The messages can then be forwarded to one WhatsApp group or individual at a time. This movement meant to dramatically reduce the spread of false information.
Apart from that, amid lockdown, WhatsApp has been working to enhance the user experience to provide to its 2 billion users across the world. Some features have been added, such as validation of forwarded messages that have not yet been released, increasing the number of participants in WhatsApp group video calls from four to eight.
