It's hard to answer your question because as you know Whatsapp being a proprietary application doesn't permit that much of an interaction with its source, however, we've researched a lot on this subject and found two apps which could be used for that purpose. The first app is called 123 Status for Whatsapp and the second one is called StatusApp for WhatsApp.
Both application permit a new interface design display for application status and permit for modification of certain values which would seem to answer your question.
