[imagesource: Creative Commons Zero – CC0]

This week, WhatsApp confirmed that it has introduced a new feature that lets you send messages to yourself.

Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company which Mark Zuckerberg seems hellbent on burning to the ground, didn’t exactly go all out in the creativity department with the feature’s name, ‘Message Yourself’.

That’s fine, I would rather they focused on functionality and creating a way to anonymously tell people on the group chat that their forwarded videos aren’t funny.

The feature is being rolled out globally to iOS and Android users in the coming weeks, reports Engadget:

Once you get the update, you’ll be able to see yourself at the top of the contacts list when creating new messages. Once you click on that, you’ll be able to send yourself notes, reminders, shopping lists and anything else you might need to remember. The resulting notification, if enabled, could help make sure your self-note doesn’t go unheeded. Users can also pin their Message Yourself chats to the top of a conversation list for easier access.

Image: WhatsApp

Until now, you could only message yourself by creating a group with just you as a member or by using the app’s “click to chat” feature, both inelegant solutions at best.

Creating a group chat was inelegant to a degree.

You’d have to add a participant – say, your partner – and then remove them to leave just you in the group.

The big plus here is that you could name each group and then message yourself accordingly. I have group chats that are just me for life hacks, articles I want to read, memes, and so on.

Those days are soon to be gone, as WhatsApp has pointed out:

No need to make a group and remove someone anymore 😉

— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) November 29, 2022

The Verge approves of the change but stresses that ‘Message Yourself’ should be far from the finished product:

The next step for all these platforms will be to figure out ways to make self-chat more useful. Users have long resisted apps intruding on their chats…

But these notes to self seem ripe for some automated assistance. Slack is the most advanced in this regard: you can use your self-chat to set reminders, manage your calendar, switch your status, and much more…

The chat window is a hugely powerful, versatile tool, and companies of all kinds are trying to figure out how to do more with it — ideally without adding a million pop-ups and menus that make it impossible to actually chat with your friends.

We are already inundated with ads on Instagram and Facebook (Twitter less so, much to Elon Musk’s chagrin) so let’s avoid having those intrude into WhatsApp, please.

As mentioned earlier, the feature will be rolled out globally in the coming weeks so keep updating your app.

Then select the new chat option you’ll find your contact will be at the top of the list.

[sources:engadget&verge]