Telegram added stories not too long ago and I feel the same way about that. It's UI pollution we don't want, and that we didn't ask for, and that serves no real purpose.
Telegram started the enshittification route already. Premium version, locked features and stickers, spam about their crypto crap, and now these useless stories
WhatsApp statuses are a bigger deal than a lot of people think in west. It acts like a basic version of social media circus that is Snapchat and Instagram, but without the drama.
Now about channels... that is actual trash unneeded. Channels are basically Instagram feeds being pushed into WhatsApp, but you have to agree to some terms otherwise it stays off.