this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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Eh, whatsapp isn't ideal and its owner is one of the big devils of today, but it's the only way to send and receive instant messages among billions of people. I despise it, but it's the only way I can contact people. Needless to say, they don't give a single flying fuck about privacy.
Whatsapp outages make people migrate to Telegram for 1-2 days at most, nobody ends up staying there. Signal? I've only ever met three other people in RL who have even heard of it, and I work in IT.
A more apt comparison would be to languages. Whatsapp is english: clunky, weird, full of nonsense, but it's what "everyone talks". Signal would probably be lojban or esperanto.
This is SMS in the US. No one uses WhatsApp, telegram or matrix. Every iphone user uses imessage and so we are stuck with SMS.
Aside from needing a phone, I really don't see the issue with SMS. For sending quick messages to people directly, is there really a better tool? You (most likely) already have a phone plan, you already have a phone, and your phone is always on you. Everyone you're trying to contact is in the same boat, even people who are technically illiterate. All phones with phone plans support SMS, unless there's weird plans I don't know about.
When it comes to more complex needs (group management, e2e encryption, etc) other services are better of course. I don't use SMS to text my group of friends, it's really not well suited for the job.
SMS does not have any encryption at all.
Of course it doesn't, I even called that out :)
That is a huge one for me. Yes, I have a phone. But I spend most of my waking time in front of a desktop or laptop. With Whatsapp, Telegram or Signal I can read and write messages from the computer, copy/paste text to the documents I am writing, and send and download files. SMS are more limited.
I use SMS for work. It's the one we all know what message we send through will present the same on the other side regardless of phone. A big downside is that it's limited to the phone. Messenger and WhatsApp can be read on laptops.
SMS is hard to have on multiple devices and it is hell of a work to become SMS provider. Internet based messaging is better in a every single way.
Even the network range is now not an advantage, as 3G is shutting down in many regions.
I don't disagree, but that wasn't my point. Everyone has access to SMS messaging. Not everyone has an internet-based messaging app, and those who do are split among several different services.
As a Signal user and an Esperantist I agree. They both require a somewhat curious mind for you to bump into them in the first place. Unless you have that friend/relative who always recommends weird stuff for you (to ignore).
Yeah, but I disagree. Signal doesn’t require that by design, it’s just as easy to use as WhatsApp (unlike something like Matrix or Lemmy). It’s just as easy to switch and has a better privacy. And while I even don’t use it much, I actually know quite some people on it (majority of which is non-techy).
Most (non-techy) people haven't heard from it and don't bother searching for alternatives since WA is ubiquitous.
Why would it even be weird or anything? I only use Signal and its pretty much the same as whatsapp on the outside...just in blue. The only reason people dont use it is because "eVerYonE hAs WhAtsApP" and they dont bother. 20 useless crap apps but 2 messengers is too much
as another signal user and esperantist, i unfortunately agree as well. but it doesnt have to be like this
Signal was fantastic until they stupidly killed SMS integration.
I'm not sure I have all of them, but I regularly use (privately)
I'm tired boss.
Look into Beeper! It just got RCS support in its last update. Not sure if they plan on supporting Teams though.
If you're tech savvy though, look into setting up your own Matrix server for a Teams bridge.
Beeper looks amazing but is waiting list only.
A very short one. It's technically open to everyone now!
Well that's great news! I joined the wait-list last week and got an email saying they'd get back to me when I could get access.
I have never used Whatsapp nor does anyone I know.
Murican, I suppose.
It's mostly not used in the US afaik. I've seen it in a lot of places in Europe and the middle east
According to Statista, 41% of 'muricans use it, which is a rather low number. Meanwhile, Brazil is the whatsapp country, in terms of percentage. In total numbers, that'd be India, as it's the most populous country in the world.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1311229/whatsapp-usage-messaging-app-users-by-country/