Get Signal.
WhatsApp is officially getting ads
Submitted 9 months ago by MazonnaCara89@lemmy.ml to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.theverge.com/news/687519/whatsapp-launch-advertising-status-updates
Comments
edgarzen@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
Alchalide@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Soon: WhatsApp revanced
rustydomino@lemmy.world 9 months ago
The problem is there are very few alternatives that will work for grandma and her friends, especially open source alternatives. This is why WhatsApp and LINE are stupidly popular.
Raiderkev@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I had to use LINE for work a few years ago to communicate with the Philippines. Awful app.
rustydomino@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Awful depends on your point of view. Is it easy to message and call your friends and make group chats for free? The answer is yes. The fact that the interface sucks and is ad-ridden is irrelevant to older aunties and uncles.
minorkeys@lemmy.world 9 months 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.
lechekaflan@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Doctorow is always right.
callyral@pawb.social 9 months ago
I hate how my country (Brazil) depends so much on Whatsapp. If I could, I would uninstall that app immediately.
lmuel@sopuli.xyz 9 months ago
Same in Germany.
I do believe it’s better than using iMessage for example but it’s undoubtedly rubbish.
jabjoe@feddit.uk 9 months ago
Same here in UK. So many people think of it like email. A universal communication system. They can’t see the problem with it being a single, closed, for profit, provider. Now Meta feels people are locked in, they will be finding out. But they still won’t see the problem until it ratcheted to really bad. Like frogs in boiling water.
rfr_Foglia@feddit.it 9 months ago
Same thing here in Italy
Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Explains why I’ve started seeing ads for WhatsApp, which was really bizarre
dsilverz@friendica.world 9 months 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...
dsilverz@friendica.world 9 months ago
@MazonnaCara89 @Excrubulent I'm unable to reply your reply directly (for some reason, the Friendica instance I use can't see the Lemmy instance you're in; I'm suspecting it's because Solarpunk instance uses Anubis CAPTCHA and Friendica could be operating in a different manner from how Lemmy operates hence triggering Anubis for a server-to-server communication, but I'm not sure).
I'm replying through this reply to my reply.
Facebook has had a strategy for a long time of monopolising the internet of countries that previously had very little internet. They essentially subsidise internet infrastructure and make that subsidy dependent on facebook being a central part of the network.
Exactly. And many carrier operators over here (Tim, Claro, Vivo) offer "rate-less access" (i.e. won't count as consumed bytes) to Facebook, WhatsApp, among other mainstream platforms (sometimes TikTok).
Also, there are "Captive portals" (web-based Wi-Fi authentication for passwordless Wi-Fi networks) from many "free Wi-Fi hotspots" out there which uses "Facebook login" as a means of getting accessing to their "free Wi-Fi". Facebook (and, by extension, Meta and its platforms) is deeply ingrained into Brazilian's daily lives and I'm frequently told to "have a Facebook profile" for me, it's deeply annoying.They obviously have found ways to inveigle themselves into key infrastructure in lots of places, even if they couldn’t build it in from the ground up.
Exactly!jesus that some dystopian shit
Yeah... it's a deeply boring dystopian world. The world has been indistinguishable from Cyberpunk.Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 9 months ago
Facebook has had a strategy for a long time of monopolising the internet of countries that previously had very little internet. They essentially subsidise internet infrastructure and make that subsidy dependent on facebook being a central part of the network.
So I’m not surprised to hear this. They obviously have found ways to inveigle themselves into key infrastructure in lots of places, even if they couldn’t build it in from the ground up.
joel_feila@lemmy.world 9 months ago
jesus that some dystopian shit
0485919158191@lemmy.world 9 months ago
You mean WhatsCrap?
Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 9 months ago
OH whatsSNAP
qyron@sopuli.xyz 9 months ago
Never used it for personal ends. But I’m curious to see if all the companies using as a work tool will divert from it.
Signal.
And IF I learn how to run Jammi, it will be my default communication application.
Im_old@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I think you mean Jami (single m).
It’s a nice concept but I’ll try to get my xmmp server nice and secured.
qyron@sopuli.xyz 9 months ago
I stand corrected.
sunglocto@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
LET THE ENSHITTIFICATION BEGIN!
SeboBear@discuss.tchncs.de 9 months ago
Oh honey that ship sailed long ago
diffusive@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Begin? 🤔🤔🤔
What year is this?
Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 9 months ago
2025!
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 9 months 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
altphoto@lemmy.today 9 months ago
Repeat after me… “Enshitification”!
Smoogs@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Is it really enshitification if it was shit to begin with?
haych@feddit.uk 9 months ago
Years ago before Meta bought it, it was good. So I think it kind of counts.
FuryMaker@lemmy.world 9 months 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?
network_switch@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
It’s a slow grind for adoption. I’ve had Signal installed on my phone since like 2016. Went from one person I knew to now about ~30. It’s mostly people from work at tech companies but progressively I’ve noticed other industries employees adopting it for unofficial chat that my contacts list has been growing over the years. Probably won’t take off in a few years. Maybe another decade
Schlemmy@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
That’s the main reason Signal uses phone numbers for verification.
That way you can see which of your contact can be reached on their platform.
I slowly diverted from WhatsApp to Signal in that way. I also have it in my WhatsApp bio: ‘‘You can reach me on Signal. Come on over, it’ll be fun’’
camelbeard@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Family chatgroup, signal Work chatgroup, signal Half of my friends, signal
Won’t be very long until I remove whatsapp from my phone. That one friend that doesn’t want to switch, call me I guess…
IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Gradually is the answer. You can dual use both Signal and Whatsapp. Same how you can use Lemmy and Facebook and are not limited to one sociale media app.
Redex68@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I see a lot of people saying it’s time to switch to Signal, and I mean I agree in principle, it’s my main messaging app, but I don’t see how it can scale. It runs off of donations and the only reason it’s still functioning is because the users that are there are above averagely passionate about it and willing to donate. If it became the defacto messaging app I fear that there is no way they would be capable of financing that level of traffic.
SheenSquelcher@lemm.ee 9 months ago
I’d probably still use it if I had to pay for it
Redex68@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I mean, there are some who will be willing to do that, but the vast majority of average people won’t pay for something if a free version exists (like WhatsApp)
nothrone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months 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…
Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I know right? Why would I use signal? There’s not even any games!
/s
Jack_Burton@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
My Signal screen fits 8 chats, and looks simliar to any other messenger I’ve used. It’s a messenger app and the UI shows messages. I wouldn’t want it to do anything else.
nothrone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
It seems to be device specific. On my device, WhatsApp fits 2 more chats. I hate meta/insta/fb/etc, but WhatsApp just looks considerably better than Signal. Signal, as I said earlier, just has huge margins and padding. It looks ugly.
Like you, I also want my messenger app to show conversations. Sadly, Signal shows more empty space than conversations. It really needs a compact UI. I invited several friends to Signal and they all left because it looks bad. I know it sounds like nitpicking, but UI/UX IS extremely important. Making the claim “meh, it looks fine” and ignoring people’s perspective is not the way to run an app that is dependent on the number of users, like signal is. If I don’t have anyone with whom to chat, the app is useless. It needs userbase.
Ceruleum@lemmy.wtf 9 months ago
Signal? Dude, I don’t want nonstop getting updates about the war plans of the Trump administration ;-)
JamonBear@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
delta.chat
The enshittify proof alternative!
y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
… So encrypted email?
rdri@lemmy.world 9 months ago
…Electron inside.
ace_garp@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Yes, encrypted chats packetised over SMTP layer.
Smooth as silk for a year and a half.
Send pics, voicemails, files, videos, and video-chat(via Jitsi integration)
Arcane-chat app does location sharing too.
jjlinux@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
I’ve been off of WhatsApp for about 7 years. My only communication options with everyone else are phone calls or Signal, and for those that will not use at least signal, we’ll, you can always call me.
I have arcane chat, but only 1 friend of mine from church uses it with me.
SpiderUnderUrBed@lemmy.zip 9 months ago
Would signal also work?
buttnugget@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I believe it is centralized but it is certainly an alternative to WhatsApp. My understanding is that it’s encrypted and privacy centric.
t_berium@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Looks like I need an alternative. An alternative for which there is still no prospect of enshitification. Which services are neither American, Chinese nor Russian? Anything from Europe?
teolan@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Signal is American but run by a non profit so it can’t be sold and is open source under GPL3 without a CLA from what I can see so it’s unlikely they would ever go closed source.
j0ester@lemmy.world 9 months ago
You may also get invited to a US military intelligence chat too. Bonus!
Corn@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
Do you have WhatsApp? No Telegram?
I dont have that one, none of the clients seem to work on my phone… Wechat?
Cant verify, SMS doesnt get through. LINE? lol I dont have a japanese number. Kakaotalk?
No… …discord?
Sure!
Shit he’s 30 seconds from finding out Im a furry.
SheenSquelcher@lemm.ee 9 months ago
I’ve never had this problem. If they don’t want to download Signal and can’t cope with basic SMS then tough luck.
Corn@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
SMS has issues if youre traveling a lot or want to send large files. Nobody has Signal and Im not going to ask someone I just met to install a new app.
Nalivai@discuss.tchncs.de 9 months ago
none of the clients seem to work on my phone
Hm, first time I hear that one to be honest.
Corn@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
When I tried to move my family to Telegram, only 2 managed to successfully install and verify a client.
Ronno@feddit.nl 9 months ago
This is such great news! More ammo to use when trying to convince friends and family to move away from WhatsApp
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 months ago
I hope Signal does this too! S
- no one ever.
SheenSquelcher@lemm.ee 9 months ago
I just love ads! Especially when they get in the way of what I’m trying to do!!
Auth@lemmy.world 9 months 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.
matlag@sh.itjust.works 9 months 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.-
Auth@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I dont think its for profit being the issue. Companies making a profit is fine. Its publicly traded companies giving bad incentives.
hiramfromthechi@lemmy.world 9 months 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.
ely@mastodon.green 9 months ago
@Auth
So that's why we donate to @signalapp
@MazonnaCara89
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Tillman@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Always a bit shocked to learn people still use WhatsApp.
drmoose@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I wonder whether Meta will try to lock down cross platform access now.
Currently Beeper still works everywhere and ED’S DMA (Digital Markets Act) still has WhatsApp as gate keeper which is required to interpolate with other chat apps. However “WhatsApp stories” are entirely different from chat so that means they can block all of that and this is probably how Meta will approach future WhatsApp updates - more shit to lock people in WhatsApp that isnt directly chat related.
LettyWhiterock@lemmy.world 9 months ago
What app?
Really though, what was the main use for this kind of chat app? Genuinely since I assume there is one, I just don’t know it since I never had a reason to use it. Was it encrypted? Cause I get using specifically encrypted messaging systems, but if it’s not, was it that good of an option over other chat apps?
mazzilius_marsti@lemmy.world 9 months ago
These ads on messaging services are out of control
so… back to owl mail then?
meltonreta@lonestarlemmy.mooo.com 4 months ago
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