WhatsApp is introducing usernames, and users can reserve a username now and start using it when the feature launches “later this year”. With usernames, users can connect and chat with new people in private and group messages without giving away their phone number.
“When someone new walks into your life — a classmate, a neighbor, someone you meet at an event — sharing a phone number can feel like a big step. That’s because a phone number is personal and it’s tied to so many parts of your life. Sometimes you just want to chat without handing over your digits,” WhatsApp shared in a blog post.
“Starting this week, you can reserve a username to use later this year when we launch this feature. With over three billion people on WhatsApp, a lot of names overlap, which is why we’re opening reservations early so everyone has the opportunity to select the username that matters to them.”
WhatsApp recognizes the importance of having a consistent brand presence online and says it has reserved an option for creators, small businesses, and organizations to claim their existing username on Facebook or Instagram.
Usernames on WhatsApp are built with privacy in mind. Meta will not suggest usernames, and there will be no directory to search for people’s usernames on WhatsApp. People will require the exact username of a user to contact them for the first time. It is not uncommon for people to maintain the same username across different social media platforms; with this in mind, WhatsApp has built an optional username key which works like two-factor authentication. When the username key is turned on, in addition to having the exact username, people who want to make contact must also know the username key.
To reserve a username, make sure you have the latest update of WhatsApp installed. Go to Settings > Account > Username.
When usernames launch later this year, a person or business will no longer see your phone number when they message for the first time, provided you have enabled the feature.
“We’ll be rolling out usernames gradually over the coming months and will notify you in WhatsApp when they’re available in your country,” the Meta-owned platform shared.
Image: Meta
