Twitter testing direct WhatsApp sharing in India

Twitter India has announced that it is testing a feature that would allow users to directly share content to Meta-owned messaging service, WhatsApp. The feature seemingly replaces the 'share' button that is presently available for most to use, which allows users to share tweets to various platforms, bookmark them, copy tweet links, or send to other users via direct messages on the platform.

Twitter India officially confirmed the testing of the feature through its account, where the typical share button appears to have been replaced by a WhatsApp icon. It's not clear what the alternate process would be, if a user would want to share tweets to other platforms — for instance, Instagram, or Twitter's own DMs. The WhatsApp button, as Twitter India shows, replaces the previous share button — and is not an addition to the service.

As of writing, it remains unclear if the move is a result of Twitter partnering with Meta for a special integration. Twitter's move is in line with Indian social media platform Sharechat, which specifically offers a direct share button to WhatsApp for users to share content to.

WhatsApp has not issued a statement on the matter, as of writing.

WhatsApp, interestingly, is one of the most used mobile applications in India, with reported monthly active user base of over 400 million users. Twitter, in comparison, is estimated to have around 24 million monthly active users in India, according to January 2022 data from market research firm, Statista. Targeting WhatsApp as a direct share platform would therefore seem to be an attempt by the company to increase its number of regular users in India.

In a statement shared with TechCrunch, Shirish Andhare, director and product head of Twitter India, said that the feature is an attempt by the company to make the platform's usage experience "more open, accessible, and holistic". User reactions to Twitter's announcement, however, appeared to be on the negative end — and many users appealed to Twitter to bring the normal share button back.