This is one of those times when I’m glad we Luddites in the US still use mostly SMS/MMS. I have managed to avoid anything Facebook/Meta and I would have been pissed if the messaging app that all my friends and family were already using was sold to Zuck.
Comment on Why you might not want to use whatsapp anymore
Mantis_Toboggan@lemmy.world 1 year ago
As someone from Latin America. FUCK!
It’s literally what everyone uses for business, family/friends groups. Don’t know if any country around here is an exception, but we started using it because greedy telecoms were charging so much money for SMS at the time. So, it was a great way to circumvent that.
Then Facebook bought it when it was already established, so it’s improbable that people will move away from it.
OldFartPhil@lemm.ee 1 year ago
shotgun_crab@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Aren’t SMS less secure though?
OldFartPhil@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Yes, although I’d argue that it’s a pick your poison thing. You can use a system where the content of your texts aren’t secure, or you can let Meta add even more personal information to the dossier it has on you, your friends and the family dog.
shotgun_crab@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Fair enough, it’s sad that there isn’t a popular alternative without the drawbacks of both
bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Sure, but it’s 10x easier to use the age-old open standard that everyone uses for general communication, that let’s be real, the powers that be probably know I’m heading to my buddy’s house before I say the “be there in 10” text. If you need to have more private conversations, there are better means for that.
Mantis_Toboggan@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I think unlimited texting was a thing in the US since like early to mid 2000s. It was never the case down here (probably still isn’t, since nobody uses it).
In fact, by the time cell phones became ubiquitous down here, it was around the time smart phones were launching. So with regular SMS being expensive, everyone just started using WhatsApp. I think back in the day the app was $1.
It’s kind of fucked-up that Zuckerberg has so much power over people’s businesses, study groups, family communications, neighborhood watches, et al. He could put ads on WhatsApp tomorrow, and people will probably take it, because humans are stubborn and like familiarity in general. I could stop using it today, but I would not be able to participate in a lot of things in society.
You can see it now in Reddit and Twitter. They’ve been completely entshittified and people are still there. In fact, we got people on Lemmy wanting to brigade and participate in r/place and give engagement to that shit-sipper Spez, so he can use the metrics on his damn IPO.
OldFartPhil@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I’ve seen a lot of discussion about why most of the rest of the world uses messaging apps instead of texting, so I understand. And messaging applications are objectively better in almost every way. But the threat of enshittification is always present when people choose a corporate walled garden. Hopefully some of the new EU regulations on account portability will make lock-in less of a concern.
d3Xt3r@lemmy.world 1 year ago
rest of the world
Except New Zealand! Although FB Messenger is more dominant here, plenty of us still use plain old SMS, and I’m really grateful for it.
KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
Time to move to Telegram/Signal
XpeeN@sopuli.xyz 1 year ago
Signal. Just signal
driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 1 year ago
At least Telegram is there for the porn.
Nioxic@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Its simple. Just make a discord server?
jsnc@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
Not a lemmy user uncritically endorsing centralized, proprietary software. :( , be better than this please!
Eldritch@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I hate to break it to you.
Screwthehole@lemmy.world 1 year ago
The article isn’t very, uh, articulate in its reasoning. Nothing here is an actual real life problem it’s all just what-ifs, and 2 billion people aren’t going to quit using it
zaph@lemmy.world 1 year ago
A teen in Nebraska was sentenced to 3 months in jail because Facebook turned over her “private” messages but sure, no real life problems with trusting meta with your “encrypted” messages.
grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I do not disagree with your basic premise and I completely disagree with the Nebraska prosecution but I think people need to understand that everything we do online it’s monitored.
If they can get the actual message data, they will use meta data (e.g. two parties sending and receiving data packets that match in size and time of occurrence and protocol and are known to each other) or whatever.
If you are doing something you are worried about other people knowing about, do not use any digital form of communication. Full stop. There is no privacy online.
zaph@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You’re absolutely right, there’s no privacy online. But there are significantly better alternatives that offer end to end encryption and sometimes digital communication is required.
yeather@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
That was Facebook Messenger too, completely different app and problem, not that Whatsapp isnt better or worse.
zaph@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I used it as an example because they’re both owned by meta and make similar promises on privacy and encryption.
jsnc@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
If you wanted something unforgivable Whatsapp is proprietary software and thus restricts your freedom. Using nonfree software is an abuse in of itself.