We know that Instagram and Snapchat did Stories but did you know WhatsApp does them too? They are called Status and I didn’t know about them until a couple of months ago when someone showed me while writing an entirely different WhatsApp tutorial. I promised to go back to the subject when I got the time and that’s today. This tutorial will show you how to see who viewed your WhatsApp story, how to use stories and how to hide them from prying eyes.
The idea behind the WhatsApp story, or Status, is similar to Snapchat. You can share a pic and a status with friends that stays live for 24 hours and then disappears. It received little of the fanfare that Snapchat Stories did which is why not so many people know about the feature.
The Status tab had been staring me in the face for the longest time in the app but I never took any notice of it. It seems I’m not the only one if my friends are anything to go by with over half of them saying they either hadn’t heard of it or didn’t use it. We seem to be in a minority though because lots of people do use it.
WhatsApp stories are actually called Status and both terms are used interchangeably, I’ll use both here.
How to create a WhatsApp Status post
It’s probably easiest to think of WhatsApp Status the same as a Snapchat Story. A post showing where you are or what you’re doing at that time that lasts for 24 hours. It is just as easy to use as Snapchat’s too.
Open WhatsApp on your device.
- Select Status in the top portion of the main screen.
- Select My Status and then select the camera.
- Take your image or video as required.
- Add effects, text or whatever.
- Select Send.
You can use all of the usual stickers, emojis, text and effects available within the app on your Status that you can within the rest of the app. Once you Send, the Status remains live for 24 hours before disappearing forever.
See who viewed your WhatsApp story
You can see who has viewed your WhatsApp story. It’s a quick way to see who has engaged with it and who hasn’t.
- Open your story within WhatsApp.
- Swipe up on the eye icon at the bottom of the screen.
- See who has viewed from within the swipe menu.
The eye icon at the bottom of the screen has a number beside it. This is the number of people who have viewed your WhatsApp story. When you swipe up you can see exactly who they are and when they viewed it.
Control who can see your WhatsApp Status
The idea of the WhatsApp Status is to show friends what you’re up to and where you are at a given time. You may not want everyone seeing what you’re doing so there is the option to not allow certain people to see it.
- Open Status within WhatsApp.
- Select the three dot menu icon and Status Privacy.
- Select who can see your WhatsApp Status.
You can select all your contacts or specify who sees it. The options are My contacts, My contacts except and Only share with… If there is someone you would prefer not to see your update, you can block them from here. They will not know they have been blocked from seeing it unless someone mentions it to them.
Delete a WhatsApp Status post
Even though WhatsApp Status only stays up for 24 hours, there may be instances where you need to remove it faster than that. Fortunately, you can remove a post in seconds should you need to.
- Go to the Status screen in WhatsApp and tap the three dot menu icon to open your status list.
- Press the three dot menu icon next to your status.
- Select Delete from the popup menu that appears.
Your WhatsApp Status will be deleted right away. Anyone in the process of viewing it will be able to finish but once they close it, the update will disappear.
Make sure someone sees your WhatsApp Status
If putting it out there isn’t enough for you, you can manually forward your WhatsApp Status to your contacts to a chat if you like. This is a little pushy but if you’re really proud of it or really need someone’s input or opinion, it’s a useful feature.
- Select the three dot menu icon next to the status.
- Select the Forward option.
- Select from Frequently contacted, Recent chats, Other contacts or use Search to find the recipient.
- Select Send once you have selected who to send it to.
Do you use WhatsApp Status? Got any tips for us and our fellow readers? Tell us about them below if you do!
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