WABetaInfo recently reported in a tweet that the platform has lowered the video time limit to post WhatsApp status update. According to the tweet, this move has specifically affected Indian users. With this restriction, the Facebook-owned messaging platform aims to reduce internet traffic on the servers.
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) March 28, 2020 As the coronavirus outbreak forced the government to lockdown India for 21 days. The lockdown that began on March 24 restricted more than 1 billion people from stepping out. This situation resulted in a sudden spike in the demand for the app. Since more and more people are now working from home, the daily usage of the internet has also increased.
The Status Limit Feature Isn’t Enough To Deal With Traffic
Although WhatsApp has limited the story video time, it doesn’t mean that the change is enough to reduce pressure on servers. In response to the tweet, several users expressed their concerns that WhatsApp should have limited the number of video status updates instead. As of now, people still have an option to upload longer videos in multiple pieces. Users say that this is not a good approach and WhatsApp could have reduced the video status update duration from 24 hours to 6 hours. Someone tweeted: “Whatsapp can reduce duration of having video from 24hrs to 6 hrs. Or so. That will really effective.” Some social media users believe that the benefit isn’t that significant. A WhatsApp user stated: “That’s not the right way.. People from India will use 15×4 for a one minute video and goes on. However server load will be the same. Either way It should be restricted to 15×4 at the max and more video status should be restricted for the next 2r hoursto reduce the load in server.” Luckily, the phased rollout of the feature made it possible for some users to post videos longer than 20 seconds. Also, it seems like the WhatsApp beta users are exempted from the change (at least for now):
— Sumit – Stay Home and #FlattenTheCurve (@sumitdhimanmvp) March 28, 2020 The Facebook-owned messaging platform hasn’t officially announced the Status limit feature. WABetaInfo confirmed that it’s a temporary feature that is going to be removed once the government decides to lift the lockdown. What do you think about this move? Do you think that the status limit will eventually limit internet traffic? Let us know in the comments down below.
