It’s owned by meta, which is notoriously bad with your privacy.
Saved you a click.
Why you might not want to use whatsapp anymore
Submitted 1 year ago by muaveri@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
Synthead@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Coeus@coeus.sbs 1 year ago
What if I’m already not using it?
Walter_Ego@lemmy.arpatubes.net 1 year ago
what if love isn’t enough?
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 1 year ago
What if love? Baby don’t hurt me
ProfessorFlaw@lemmy.world 1 year ago
The problem is everybody is using it and its impossible to move to signal etc
Anders429@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Dang, I’m feeling pretty lucky that no one in my life uses WhatsApp. Sounds like that’s not the norm.
ProfessorFlaw@lemmy.world 1 year ago
In europe literally everybody uses whatsapp you wont be able to do anything without it (docotrs, food delivery, literally every person like friends and familly, corona test results, company customer support, the list goes on)
scottywh@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s not nearly as common in the US as it seems to be in many places in Europe.
Jujuki@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Not only everybody, but companies, banks and goverment instances are using it too. Some apps that sends their OTP via WhatsApp. Some companies and instances only reachable.via whatsapp bot and whatnot.
ProfessorFlaw@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Thats smth that i forgot, corona test results per whatsapp and a lot of companies also just have a whatsapp kontskt on their “kontakt us” page
d3Xt3r@lemmy.world 1 year ago
[deleted]ProfessorFlaw@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I mean yeah, but i would have no contacts to anyone, here in germany we literally use nothing else, contact to teachers for assignments is lost, couldnt text with my family, would have no contact to my friends etc
KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 1 year ago
in my immediate family (brother and parents) we use signal, but everyone else in my life still uses whatsapp. sadly the zucc has a monopolyomn messaging in europe.
tabular@lemmy.world 1 year ago
For some “everyone” not talking to you is a perk.
The people I most care for use Discord. I worry I will lose constant with most of them if I stop using that too but I’ve never tried to get other to use something else.
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.
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.
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.
OldFartPhil@lemm.ee 1 year ago
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.
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.
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.
ice2194@kbin.social 1 year ago
The day it was bought by Meta(Facebook) people should have moved away if you ask me.
Then again that's easy for me to say as someone who doesn't talk to anyone and so doesn't need any messenger apps. However I hear Signal is good.ohlaph@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I haven’t used it since it was purchased by Facebook.
rebul@kbin.social 1 year ago
I seem to remember that the former owner of Whatsapp recommended people NOT use it after he sold it to Zuck.
1chemistdown@kbin.social 1 year ago
He financed Signal app after walking away from meta and an addition 3/4 of a billion or something like that. He publicly stated that they’re evil. When financing Signal App his one stipulation was don’t do that
bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I used it to talk to a girl I met in Europe that lived in Croatia. When we stopped talking, I stopped using it.
I had more friends and family urging me to get on Facebook messenger more than anything else, until iMessage really took off then it reverted to sms on my end.
Blizzard@lemmy.zip 1 year ago
anymore
???
taldennz@lemmy.nz 1 year ago
The mere thought hadn’t even begun to speculate about the merest possibility of crossing my mind…
(Credit to Douglas Adams for the quote… But I’m taking the credit for personally dodging the FB platform)
Squirrel@thelemmy.club 1 year ago
Good news! I never started!
jesterraiin@lemmy.world 1 year ago
And lose the ability to interact with all those people that won’t be convinced to switch to less of a software gore?
Yeah, definitely great idea, so rebel & stuff…
iamak@infosec.pub 1 year ago
Sir_Osis_of_Liver@kbin.social 1 year ago
Weak sauce. If they value you, they'll get in touch. If they don't, they never cared in the first place so what does it matter?
Bookmeat@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s it not the case that Meta has escrow encryption keys for Whatsapp? This used to be a thing, right? It was never trustworthy because they could always decrypt your comms.
kylostillreigns@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Despite all of its privacy concerns, one can’t really get rid of it if everyone around is using it as the default communication mode, unless you’re a social outcast. The thing with communication apps is that they aren’t a personal choice.
bonnetbee@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It is possible without beeing a social outcast. Element, Signal, Telegram and Threema cover most of my contacts. If there really is someone with only Whatsapp, I write a SMS.
In my experience everyone has at least one alternative to Whatsapp.
yoz@aussie.zone 1 year ago
Deleted whatsapp in 2016 and never looked back.
Zaphodquixote@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Anymore? I’ve literally never used it. Refused to, even.
Eldritch@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I used to not use it. I still don’t. But I used to not use it too.
6mementomori@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Meanwhile literally everyone uses it here. Choose between forfeiting your privacy or isolation. I’ve already left Instagram and that cut me out of a good portion of online interaction here. Leaving whatsapp would eliminate most forms of contact I have with people here. The only thing left is mobile calling, and SMS, which is basically forgotten by everyone. The shit that happens when one platform rules over all.
Kraiden@kbin.social 1 year ago
Embrace the void
Kidding. I hear you. I don't have facebook/insta/WhatsApp but my partner does, and it's painfully obvious how much we'd miss out on if she didn't
housepanther@lemmy.goblackcat.com 1 year ago
I have a distrust of just about all things corporate. That’s reason enough for me not to use it.
Veraxus@kbin.social 1 year ago
Huh, I didn't realize WhatsApp was still around.
HeartyBeast@kbin.social 1 year ago
It’s pretty much ubiquitous in the UK. Say you don’t use it and you get a very funny look
HipPriest@kbin.social 1 year ago
It is the default mode of text communication here. My dad insists on using normal texts and that's a bit weird...
kometes@lemmy.world 1 year ago
This article was AI generated.
SpezHater69@lemmy.world 1 year ago
This comment was AI generated.
Janis@feddit.de 1 year ago
noooo. please.keep boomers and the altright in their bubble. so sad to see the dumbasses leave threads so soon already. there needs to be a default platform for morons to share memes so the real world does not get polluted.
MxM111@kbin.social 1 year ago
Main use of WhatsApp is SMS replacement. Has nothing to do with threads or anything like that. It is a free equivalent of messaging which is very convenient when you need to send messages abroad. What do you use for this? e-mail? Telegram? Serious question.
MiscreantMouse@kbin.social 1 year ago
I'm not the person you replied to, but I use Matrix for this, and it works very well for my purposes.
EnderWi99in@kbin.social 1 year ago
Signal for me personally. I'll never touch WhatsApp.
tiredofsametab@kbin.social 1 year ago
? People in many countries use this like Americans use SMS/texting. In Japan, we use LINE instead. Korea mainly uses Kakaotalk and some LINE, etc. SMS just isn't really used in a number of countries by anyone of any age.
BrazenSigilos@ttrpg.network 1 year ago
Yeah, the Meta logo on the commercial was enough to keep me away from this forever.
observantTrapezium@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
I joined WhatsApp after many years of holding out, there was simply no other practical way to keep in touch with many people. The ways I mitigate the privacy concerns are:
- I got an international eSIM, for the purpose of cheap roaming abroad but since I now had this extra phone number not tied to my identity, I used it for WhatsApp.
- I installed WhatsApp using Island so it has access to just the contacts in the “work profile”, that is, just people who have WhatsApp anyway.
muaveri@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Haha@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I use it the least possible and mostly for professional or career
Mantis_Toboggan@lemmy.world 1 year ago
[deleted]OverfedRaccoon@lemmy.world 1 year ago
As a heads up, this posted 4 times.
Mantis_Toboggan@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Yeah, my bad. Mlem is bugging out and it seemed like it didn’t post it at all.
cultsuperstar@kbin.social 1 year ago
This article didn't really give any new reasons not to use WhatsApp. All the reasons stated in the article are already known. I thought this article was about a new breach or something, but it's a rehash of info that's been around a while. The article is also a few months old, dating back to April.
If there's one thing I've learned, people will use whatever app they're most comfortable with and whatever app their friends use, regardless of security ("I got nothing to hide!") or features ("I don't care about x or y!"). Then you end up like me, using several different apps. That's not necessarily a bad thing as I like using different apps and seeing how features differ from app to app, like how an app shows link previews, or if it can display a meme by pasting the link in the text box vs having to download the image and attach it in-line. But it's hard to get people to switch when a lot of people don't care.
UdeRecife@kbin.social 1 year ago
@cultsuperstar
I want to thank you for this comment. You made me think of something that felt like my mind was expanding a bit. You're mentioning a kind of personal decentralized attitude towards what apps we use.
Why stuck to just one? Why put all eggs in one basket? Yeah, I know it's more comfortable. But being comfortable does not make it safe, failure-proof. With this I'm not trying to point out some faux-pas on your thinking. Rather the reverse. You're hinting at something that bears a lot of meaning.
Instead of me being frustrated because other people won't change their platforms, I can see that as an opportunity to decentralize my own practices. I can embrace other people's immobility as both an example of what I should avoid and of being forced to keep a lot of channels open. While they're stuck into the centralization trap, I'm federating between different instances.
Again, thank you for your comment. It was really eye opening.