With more than three billion users, the race is now on to claim your preferred WhatsApp username. Meta’s end-to-end encrypted messaging platform announced today that it is letting people reserve usernames ahead of the feature’s launch later this year. The move is being pitched as a major privacy upgrade for the platform. Currently, WhatsApp users generally need to exchange phone numbers to connect with someone new. “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,” the company wrote in a press release. “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 says there will be no username directory or search suggestions. That means people will need to know your exact username to contact you for the first time. The company is also adding an optional username key that other users will need to know before messaging you through your username.
Once the feature goes live, if a user has enabled a username, people and businesses they message for the first time will no longer see their phone number. Meta says it is opening reservations now so people have a better shot at selecting a username they actually want. With billions of users on the platform, there is likely to be plenty of overlap between people who want the same username. As we know by now, choosing a username isn’t a decision that should be taken lightly. Depending on the platform, a poorly chosen username can haunt you for years.
