With the limitation of forwarded messages, traffic generated by fake news has dropped on WhatsApp by 70%. Here's what has changed
Epochal change had to be and change it was. The limit of only one forwarding for messages labeled as "frequently forwarded" (usually hoax or fake news messages) is paying off. And WhatsApp executives themselves say so: traffic generated by forwarded messages has decreased by 70%. The goal was just that: drastically reduce the traffic generated by viral messages and that turn within groups.
The idea of WhatsApp is very simple: if users can not forward a message "frequent" to five chats at the same time, but only to one, they will have less desire to do so. And that's exactly what happened. To gain are first of all the users who are no longer inundated with unnecessary and very often harmful messages, and secondly the application itself, which in this way does not have to face the messages of scammers. And the initiatives of WhatsApp to limit this type of messages do not end here: it is also coming an agreement with Google to integrate a sort of search engine to check the veracity of the messages that you receive.
WhatsApp, collapses the use of forwarded messages
In a few weeks there has been a real revolution in the use of WhatsApp.
A simple change on a tool abused by users was enough to see a substantial change in the use of the application. The messages considered "fake-news" by the application because forwarded too frequently, have suffered a decrease of 70%. A result considered amazing by the application itself, especially considering the short time that has passed since the introduction and limitation (about two weeks).
The "new tool" has been very useful especially in this particular period. With the outbreak of the pandemic, WhatsApp was turning into a den of conspiracists where fake news reigned. And hoax messages are hard to fight, just like Covid-19.
To curb the phenomenon even more, WhatsApp also has other tools ready that will debut soon. Thanks to an agreement with Google, a magnifying glass will be added next to messages forwarded too frequently, allowing users to search directly on the search engine. In this way it will be possible to verify the truthfulness of an information.