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WhatsApp is officially getting ads

⁨852⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨MazonnaCara89@lemmy.ml⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.theverge.com/news/687519/whatsapp-launch-advertising-status-updates

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Comments

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  • NotForYourStereo@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    gasp

    Who could have ever seen this move coming? From Facebook, of all companies!

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    • toynbee@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      To be fair, I am shocked… Not to see a Pikachu face in the comments.

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      • dalekcaan@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Image

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    • danc4498@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      As somebody that doesn’t use what’s app, I’m shocked it didn’t have ads already.

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  • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Good news good Signal.

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    • hansolo@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Only if you donate. Otherwise bad news, Signal.

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      • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Have they removed that dogshit crypto they added a few years ago? Haven’t donated since.

        Signal was never more than a stepping stone anyway. Centralised privacy services, that can be taken down by any government, are doomed to fail under surveillance capitalfascism.

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  • Jaybird@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    “We will never show you ads in WhatsApp. We promise”. --Facebook when they bought WhatsApp and promised the previous owner not to force ads in the app…

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    • InnerScientist@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I wonder if anyone believed them at the time

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      • Jaybird@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        If they did not, they at least ignored that instinct and kept using WhatsApp…

        How do we get people to stop ignoring their better instincts in things like this?

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    • Jaybird@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      A link: blog.whatsapp.com/why-we-don-t-sell-ads

      web.archive.org/web/…/why-we-don-t-sell-ads

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    • Taalen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Should’ve included a clause that gives WhatsApp back to the sellers without returning the payment if they walk back from it. Put your money where your mouth is.

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  • Kekzkrieger@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    If thats not a reason to switch to Signal what is.

    But people just suck it up anyway, they did when reddit gone to shit, they did when Amazon startes showing ads even tho when you were paying, they did when Netflix disallowed sharing and you had to pay extra.

    People just suck up whatever is thrown at them and are fucking stupid.

    We cant have nice things, because companies will greed and if users dont react and cancel the shit out of them they and others will continue to press more moneyjuice out of people.

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    • PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Sheep don’t know they are being slaughtered. We’re the digital 1% and we can’t make the sheep wake up.

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    • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I don’t use either but my issue with Signal is none of my friends want another application to install and they are happy with WhatApp.

      Conversely, I’m happy not having a group chat app and will either text you or iMessage you. Don’t you dare ring me as I ain’t answering.

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      • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I just deleted WhatsApp one day and made the switch. Messaged all important contacts, that I will be available via Signal. Most of the few I care about went ahead and installed Signal. One is still dragging their feet and we communicate via SMS now xD

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    • zewm@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I only use WhatsApp for work and none of my coworkers are switching off it. They have too much invested in it. Family specifically.

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      • hraegsvelmir@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I had a similar situation at my previous two jobs, but I just told people I wasn’t installing WhatsApp, if they asked, and nothing ever came of it. If it’s that important, they could text me or use my work email.

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    • Fluxxr@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      How is signal insulated from the same fate? Isn’t it another free app that will eventually hit the enshitification wall?

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      • ouch@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Signal is run by a non-profit. Moxie has integrity. And the software is open source.

        There are more safeguards than in case of proprietary apps of for-profit companies.

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      • Kekzkrieger@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I mean yes thats possible. we dont have be bound to a company or app forever.

        Generally Signal is by a non profit, meaning they dont have to make more money (as meta has to because they have obligation to share holders) meaning enshittification, if any, is gonna be slower and less probable

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  • Auth@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    • provide free app at a loss

    • grow massive user base and market share

    • squeeze your userbase for every cent they’re worth

    Every single time. We got to solve the funding issue some how, I dont want to live in a future run by ads.

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    • bonjour@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      WhatsApp was not free and already had a massive user base before Facebook bought it.

      Hope this will turn people to alternatives.

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      • SheenSquelcher@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I’d forgotten about this!!

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      • Darleys_Brew@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Wasn’t it like a quid to sign up?

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    • Susurrus@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      It’s not very easy to solve the issue of infinite growth in a world with finite resources. The fundamental issue is that it’s just not physically possible, but they keep trying. Either we continue this cycle and eventually destroy the planet irreversibly, or we acknowledge that maybe money isn’t everything, and that maybe people aren’t inherently egoitistical monsters, and we move on to different systems.

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    • hiramfromthechi@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      WhatsApp was charging $1-$3 per year before Facebook’s acquisition. They had 600M+ users and a team of twelve people. It was beautiful while it lasted.

      Hopefully we can carry out the original mission with Signal.

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    • ely@mastodon.green ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      @Auth
      So that's why we donate to @signalapp
      @MazonnaCara89

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    • tarknassus@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      The enshittification process in a nutshell.

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    • hansolo@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Eastern Europe loves the app Viber that Rakuten bought, which has had ads for years.

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    • matlag@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      It’s not just the funding, it’s the business overall. Public companies need to show growing revenues year to year, and worse: growing revenues with a minimum yield. A product can grow by attracting more users up to a certain point. Then the only way to grow is by making more money out of the same users base. If the revenue is based on ads:

      • Extend the product so that the user’s engagement increases (channels/others kind).
      • Add paying features (freemium approach, that includes blue stars or whatever the hell you want it to look like…)
      • Serve them ads

      Freemium is not always working well and Meta never used it. They have no new great idea to extend the product without eating their other products users bases. So the only one left is more ads.

      Funding is not the issue, for-profit companies are. Non-profit is the way to go. Federation is even better as individuals/families/small organizations can run their own servers.-

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      • Auth@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I dont think its for profit being the issue. Companies making a profit is fine. Its publicly traded companies giving bad incentives.

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  • sunglocto@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    LET THE ENSHITTIFICATION BEGIN!

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    • diffusive@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Begin? 🤔🤔🤔

      What year is this?

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      • Reddfugee42@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        2025!

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    • SeboBear@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Oh honey that ship sailed long ago

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  • cRazi_man@europe.pub ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I’m forced to use WhatsApp chat so I keep it installed begrudgingly. But who the fuck is using WhatsApp stories?

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    • PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I use Beeper which shows me a unified view of whatsapp and Signal and others. whatsapp itself has zero permissions on my phone. I hate that I need to have it at all but Europe is deep into that. Sigh.

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      • cRazi_man@europe.pub ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        There was a big uproar amongst normies when the WhatsApp TOS changed…but people forget quickly and prefer convenience. That was our one chance to convert everyone over.

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      • lemmyingly@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        At least normal European people are locked into a platform that doesn’t care what device you’re using, unlike iMessage - so it’s not all bad

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      • sykaster@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Isn’t Beeper another security risk? They also store your data on their cloud, and it’s not encrypted during the bridge process.

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      • kirk781@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Whatsapp is popular a lot in many parts of the world. In India, WhatsApp is almost the defacto standard messaging app with Telegram probably flying in a far second. I doubt I know anyone who even uses stuff like Signal or Threema or any of the alternatives.

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      • AugustWest@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        But then aren’t you trusting your credentials to yet another application? That seems like a bad idea…

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    • Scotty_Trees@lemmy.world [bot] ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Who is forcing you?

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      • cRazi_man@europe.pub ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Only my family, friends and work. But I’m working on cutting them out of my life.

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  • mintiefresh@piefed.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Hopefully this helps people move off of WhatsApp to Signal or something else.

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    • Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Yeah like it moved them off of Xitter, Reddit, Facebook and Instagram.

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      • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I mean we are here, aren’t we? The majority of people will do nothing of course, but some will make the switch or even just install another app just to give it a try. And soon Whatsapp’s enshittification will continue and some more people will switch and so on.

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    • SieYaku@chachara.club ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Hope so… Just a little bit and them another ones when they extent the implementation of IA… And wishing to not be the standard any more

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    • FenderStratocaster@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I just wish SMS would go away.

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      • FinalRemix@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Why? It works fine and it’s built into the phones. No need to convince family members to install a fuckin’ chat app just to be able to message them.

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  • SilverShark@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I wished Whatsapp wasn’t a thing so much. There are so many so much better apps. Signal is so much better and it would work fine for the vast majority of people.

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    • Scolding7300@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Unfortunately “better” varies from person to person. Signal is behind on features, e.g. WhatsApp has integration for businesses (customer support).

      I hope my monthly donation will help but we must realize for some some features are important, I guess that for most it’s how many ppl they know is there/unwilling to lead a migration

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      • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Nobody in their right mind wants to use Whatsapp for getting support. That is insane. I want to message people and do group chats. That is it. Anything else is bloat.

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      • SilverShark@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Yes, this is right. Saying arbitrarily “better” leaves a lot out.

        I must admit that using the business integration for customer support has lead me to really good experiences. Especially not having to call, wait 20 minutes under a ring tone, and talking over a line with very low sound quality.

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  • noxypaws@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Facebook shit gonna do facebook shit

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  • malfisya@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    This is one of the train that impossible for me to get off. It is very ubiquitous in my country to use whatsapp instead of text. I must suck it up I guess. 😅

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    • Zak@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      A fair number of my contacts from countries where this is true also have Signal. If you don’t, I suggest installing it and seeing how many people are there.

      If it’s hard to remember who uses what, start conversations from the contacts app instead of one of the messaging apps; in most cases it will tell you.

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      • malfisya@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Already did that months ago when they change the term of services and people are aware of it at the time. Many install Signal, tried them, signal got overloaded, experience degraded, people are back to Whatsapp. Now only dead account are there. Telegram is more popular but that is just jumping from crocodile's mouth to shark's.
        Government agencies, company customee services all relies on Whatsapp. They have emails but if you want to get response in timely manners, Whatsapp is the way to go (Or twitter, again another bad alternatives).
        At least it is still E2E (supposedly), so it is not all bad. Look, I know I sound pessimistic because I am (at least in this specific topic). I hope everyone else can do better than me, cheers!

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    • rocky1138@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Be the change

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    • Getting6409@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      It may not fit your exact needs, but my solution to WhatsApp and fb messenger is to bridge them with a beeper account. Of course you lose the calling ability, but if you're not using it for calls it is a good enough solution. The other caveat (at least with fb messenger) is you still need to check on your actual account if you get any legit messages from someone not on your list.

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      • malfisya@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        This might be good middle ground. The last time I tried beeper, the apps is kinda .... suck tho. Well, at least it not full of ads!

        Does it still require user to install their desktop app first?

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    • lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
      [deleted]
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      • malfisya@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        The most important people in my life is my family, especially my parents. Teaching them to try new app to chat to me is easy enough but all of their friends and groups are still on whatsapp.

        Making them juggle between two apps (separating how they interact to me and totheir friends) is not easy. Justifying it is even harder, they simply don't care (to understand) the implication.

        Rather than make them confused and worried about not being able to contact me, I just have to accept the status quo. It is the conclusion I arrive at.

        Must be nice tho to not use any Meta product. :)

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    • Scolding7300@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9Ux8DFgMSM

      Might give you some ideas on how to do that

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  • altphoto@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Repeat after me… “Enshitification”!

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    • Smoogs@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Is it really enshitification if it was shit to begin with?

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      • haych@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Years ago before Meta bought it, it was good. So I think it kind of counts.

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  • dsilverz@friendica.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    @MazonnaCara89 The country I live in (Brazil) overly uses and depends on WhatsApp. From government departments to businesses and transactional relations, all the way to social and family affairs, people is addicted to it, forcing other people (e.g. me) to either have a WhatsApp account or ending up far beyond mere social ostracism (beyond mere loneliness): effectively, the inability to buy, sell, rent or even resolve citizen matters with certain government/state departments (such as receiving medical appointment schedules from Brazilian's public health system (Sistema Unico de Saude/SUS (Unified Health System) via their "postinhos"/"Unidades Basicas de Saude" (neighborhood public health centers)). They don't even use the grand old phone calling and SMS anymore: even "calls", when performed, are made by people/departments/businesses via Whatsapp VoIP functionality.

    That said, it's worth mentioning that WhatsApp has been running ads for a long time: the "Channels" section lists seemingly random "channels", many of which are businesses with "verified" "blue badges". So it's effectively advertisement disguised as veiled "recommendations" from Meta. It seems like it'll just become worse (to the surprise of no one who understands what Meta is).

    I really want to leave WhatsApp, but I'm socially compelled to stay (it's the only mainstream platform where I still have an account, against my will)... the raw, grotesque distillation from social compliance, worse than depicted in Derren Brown's documentaries...

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  • TomMasz@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Meta has been running ads claiming no one can read your WhatsApp messages, including them. For some reason, I'm not 100% sure about this. It's hard to imagine they can resist grabbing all that data for their AI somehow.

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  • razorcandy@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I’m more surprised it took them this long. Thankfully there are already many decent alternative messaging apps.

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  • Ronno@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    This is such great news! More ammo to use when trying to convince friends and family to move away from WhatsApp

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  • zebidiah@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I literally just got my senior citizen dad off Skype and over to WhatsApp like 2 years ago… Ain’t no way I can get him over to signal

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  • Ulrich@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Only shocking part of this is that it took them this long.

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  • callyral@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I hate how my country (Brazil) depends so much on Whatsapp. If I could, I would uninstall that app immediately.

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  • nothrone@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    WhatsApp getting ads is great news! WhatsApp, and any other meta/facebook/for-profit-social-network will never be a good product. Therefore, the second best alternative is for it to be as bad as possible, so people finally change to worthy alternatives.

    What is the alternative here? Don’t know, perhaps Signal, though the devs are not welcoming at all. The UI is absolute shit. Looks like UI for old people, huge margins and empty space. My screen fits like 3 chats. A compact theme would take a few hours to create and vastly improve the product, but ya…

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  • FelixCress@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Time to ditch WhatsApp

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  • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I forgot WhatsApp existed.

    Guess its shittier now.

    Mhm. Yup.

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  • Wispy2891@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    the channels you follow

    I knew they would use that info for targeted advertising

    It’s Facebook 101, let the users themselves tell you what they like

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  • aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I hope Signal does this too! S

    - no one ever.

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  • cheese_greater@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Signal doesnt have ads…

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  • JamonBear@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    delta.chat

    The enshittify proof alternative!

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  • minorkeys@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Nothing better than having a private conversation with my friends and having some dude lean in to remind us that Brawndo, the thirst mutilator, has electrolytes.

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  • espentan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Uninstalled.

    Luckily I/people I interact with never used it much.

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  • FuryMaker@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    People are going to use whatever the majority use.

    I need to ude WhatsApp when i travel to countries egere it’s widely adopted. Just like I need tocuse Facebook if I want to partake in group chats with friends.

    They’re just too big. How is anything else supposed to take off? Just gradually maybe.

    So maybe Signal will get there in a few years? What’s itd adoption rate since it was created?

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  • Mynameisallen@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Glad I got out when I did

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