Some WhatsApp users have expressed mixed reactions to the platform’s newly introduced privacy feature, Username for WhatsApp, with opinions divided over its benefits and drawbacks.
The users, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday, shared varying views on the feature.
NAN reports that these reactions follow the new feature introduced by WhatsApp where users now get to share usernames instead of phone numbers.
While some agreed that it’s a good move as it will enhance privacy, others have disagreed arguing that it takes the originality away from the platform and what it is already known for.
Linda Agbu, a journalist in Lagos, said that she believed the new feature would make hacking of people’s WhatsApp account more difficult.
Agbu said that usernames are personalised, so it would make it difficult for anyone to just gain access to another person’s account, as opposed to phone numbers that can be guessed by just anybody.
She said: “Usernames are personalised because sometimes you get calls from people and they tell you it’s a misdial but that can’t happen with usernames as they can’t be guessed.”
However, Ogochukwu Obiagwuncha, a baker in Port Harcourt, was of the opinion that the old way of sharing phone numbers was more private and original.
He argued that with a username, people could sit behind their keyboards and guess any username, search and be able to text you without your consent.
Blessing Okudaye, an entrepreneur from Abuja, described the proposed privacy feature as a welcome development, agreeing that it was a good move.
