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WhatsApp Now Lets You Reserve a Username

If you also have Instagram you can relax - because all Instagram Usernames are already pre-reserved for their owners. So nobody can take away your username IF you want to use the same as on Instagram.

Once the feature becomes available in WhatsApp for you simply choose the option to use the Instagram Username and you are done.

Don't forget to activate how people can contact you via username (on WhatsApp) - if you do not want to be spammed into oblivion I suggest using the "username + key" instead of "all".
 
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DeanCorp said:
Trying to work out if I want to reserve my business name or a username for my own personal number since I don’t want people looking up my business name and then being able to text me all the time
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You can set it up so that only people with your username key can message you apparently. The following is pasted from Gemini:

How to Restrict First-Time Messengers (Username Keys)
WhatsApp supports Custom Usernames, allowing you to chat without sharing your actual phone number. To prevent random people from messaging your username, you can lock it with a "key": [1, 2]
  • The Restriction: Anyone trying to message you for the very first time via your username will be forced to enter your exact Username Key to successfully send a text.
  • Control: You can change or revoke this key at any time from your settings, cutting off anyone who has the old one.
  • Where to find it: Go to Settings > Account > Username to set up your handle and configure your privacy key.
Other Ways to Filter Who Can Message You
If you are trying to tighten your general inbox privacy against unwanted contacts, use these native WhatsApp Privacy Tools:
  • Silence Unknown Callers: Go to Settings > Privacy > Calls and turn on Silence Unknown Callers to automatically mute calls from numbers not in your address book. [1]
  • Group Privacy Control: Go to Settings > Privacy > Groups and change the setting to My Contacts so strangers cannot randomly add you to group spam chats. [1, 2, 3, 4]
  • Block and Report: If an unwanted user manages to message you, tap their profile name, scroll to the bottom, and select Block to permanently stop them from reaching you. [1, 2, 3]
Click to expand...
 
CDPlayer said:
I haven’t used Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, or any social media in years and don’t intend to. My friends and family are a phone call or drive away (and flight).

So, no thanks, Mark. Enjoy your $300 million yacht, estates, and bunker. I’m not putting a cent in your wallet nor Musk nor Bezos. I’m disconnecting to reconnect and life is richer for it.
Click to expand...
I have a Facebook account, because it was a thing to do at the time and a lot of people I know went onto it. I took the main app off my phone months ago and only keep the messenger app on the phone. I still have a peek on the computer browser to see what is going on.

As for WhatsApp, I kept being asked to go on it, but never have, my problem with it is the need of the phone number, or one of them anyway. Number still needed, so still not using it.
I have said to people they can text or phone me and if they really must, use Faceache messenger.
This is change is not going to make any difference, still not using it, not that I get asked these days.
 
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CDPlayer said:
I haven’t used Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, or any social media in years and don’t intend to. My friends and family are a phone call or drive away (and flight).

So, no thanks, Mark. Enjoy your $300 million yacht, estates, and bunker. I’m not putting a cent in your wallet nor Musk nor Bezos. I’m disconnecting to reconnect and life is richer for it.
Click to expand...
WhatsApp has intrigued me, though, in that it is one of the few popular apps that operates at a loss. A fairly significant loss.

But I feel similarly. My family and friends have grown tired of trying to get me to sign up. I actually did sign up at one point, and as the flood of texts poured in, I realized it was just another distraction. Deleted!
 
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CDPlayer said:
I haven’t used Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, or any social media in years and don’t intend to. My friends and family are a phone call or drive away (and flight).

So, no thanks, Mark. Enjoy your $300 million yacht, estates, and bunker. I’m not putting a cent in your wallet nor Musk nor Bezos. I’m disconnecting to reconnect and life is richer for it.
Click to expand...
But you’re right here posting on social media.
 
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rosenkrieger said:
If you also have Instagram you can relax - because all Instagram Usernames are already pre-reserved for their owners. So nobody can take away your username IF you want to use the same as on Instagram.
Click to expand...
When I click ‘Use instagram Username’ it says it’s already taken…despite all my accounts being connected….:/
 
If you are not opening reservations to everyone at once, dont enable the feature at all. Im not seeing any reservation menu at the moment and someone might just steal the username i want before me. Big L from mark again as expected.
 
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jennyp said:
I asked WhatsApp's FAQ;

"If my username corresponds with my real name, it is possible for someone to guess it and initiate a phone call to me (not a chat, but a phone call)?"

It responded:

"Yes, it is possible. A username allows someone to find you and start a chat without your phone number. Once a chat is initiated, the person can use the call button within that chat to start a voice or video call. If your username is easy to guess because it matches your real name, someone could potentially find you and initiate a call this way."
Click to expand...

So, let's say you want the user ID "username" but someone has it. Just keep texting and calling them until they get so fed up, they change their ID. Then it's yours for the taking!

Has someone just irritated you enough that you changed your ID and then they took it? Just keep texting and calling them until you get it back.

Hours of fun!
 
Looks like I got lucky. I looked for the option on my Mac with no success - but the option WAS there on my iPhone and I was able to get the name I wanted.
 
Classic rollout to the US first. I have the same username for meta platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads but what are the chances it'll still be sniped on WhatsApp by the time it rolls out to the rest of the world and the UK...
 
CDPlayer said:
I haven’t used Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, or any social media in years and don’t intend to. My friends and family are a phone call or drive away (and flight).

So, no thanks, Mark. Enjoy your $300 million yacht, estates, and bunker. I’m not putting a cent in your wallet nor Musk nor Bezos. I’m disconnecting to reconnect and life is richer for it.
Click to expand...
You're not alone. I think we'll be seeing A LOT more people doing this in the coming years. It's just getting to be too much. As a millennial who grew up with the rise of the Internet, we always dreamed of living in a city where tech ruled the world (at least I did). It was cool, it was "the future," and it made us feel like some of our Sci-Fi dreams were coming true. But looking back now, what was the cost? I'm glad I taught myself early on how to navigate this crap, but I feel bad for those who cannot.
 
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And of course because WhatsApp is one of those A/B testing-incremental rollout-OTA nightmare apps this option is not visible for me despite running the latest version
 
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whelmedjedi said:
If you are not opening reservations to everyone at once, dont enable the feature at all. Im not seeing any reservation menu at the moment and someone might just steal the username i want before me. Big L from mark again as expected.
Click to expand...
Why is that stealing? I don’t think anyone has patents on usernames
 
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