WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature for the beta users of iOS that will rank your friends on your contact list based on the frequency of your interaction with them. This will eventually decide the priority of your friends' status updates on WhatsApp. The ranking algorithm basically finds out how it should arrange and prioritise your WhatsApp Status updates so that you don't miss out on anything important from people you interact with the most. The algorithm continuously checks your usage and behavior throughout the application to establish your priorities. If you chat a lot with a certain contact then the chances of his/her status update appearing on top is more.
As per a report by WABetaInfo, if you send and receive messages - it will count as normal ranking. If you send and receive media, then it will count as 'good ranking' and if you ignore the message then WhatsApp will count that as 'bad ranking' for that contact. The best way to increase the ranking, however, is to make a call to a contact. In the case of a group chat, the number of chats and mentions to a particular contact will automatically boost the ranking. In case you continuously ignore the status of a particular contact for a long period of time then the ranking of the contact will fall gradually.
Every chunk of data that WhatsApp collects on finding out rankings will be used to shuffle the status updates on the status tab of WhatsApp. The status posted by the contact with the highest ranking will be at the top of the list, followed by others based on their ranking.
With the introduction of the ranking feature, the sequential arrangement of statuses will come to an end. The feature is still in beta and is available to people who have opted for beta versions of WhatsApp. Also, the beta versions are not yet made available for Android users. iOS users will have to install WhatsApp beta version 2.18.102.4.
Also Read: WhatsApp appoints Abhijit Bose as India head; to build the biggest team outside the US