Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 372 posts

Re: Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders

#41

Post by Djvacto »

brisance wrote: post #32
Djvacto wrote: post #9

So, I use WhatsApp as my primary source of communication. Knowing facebook owned it always made me a little nervous, but given that it was end-to-end encrypted, I figured Facebook wasn't getting any more from me then they would from all my facebook-using-friends who would send me SMS's before. But I'm worried about how long I can continue to use the service moving forward, which is sad as this is my main way to commu…

According to this article, somehow prosecutors were able to retrieve deleted WhatsApp messages. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/five-ind...

So I see it mention that they were in trouble for deleting "potentiall incriminating" conversations. Are there any details or other articles that confirm the deleted messages were retrieved?

Re: Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders

#42

Post by FigmentEngine »

Djvacto wrote: post #9

So, I use WhatsApp as my primary source of communication. Knowing facebook owned it always made me a little nervous, but given that it was end-to-end encrypted, I figured Facebook wasn't getting any more from me then they would from all my facebook-using-friends who would send me SMS's before. But I'm worried about how long I can continue to use the service moving forward, which is sad as this is my main way to commu…

This is why I moved to Signal after the whole brexit/us election saga. open source and not run by an advertising company

Re: Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders

#43

Post by moedersmooiste »

Djvacto wrote: post #9

So, I use WhatsApp as my primary source of communication. Knowing facebook owned it always made me a little nervous, but given that it was end-to-end encrypted, I figured Facebook wasn't getting any more from me then they would from all my facebook-using-friends who would send me SMS's before. But I'm worried about how long I can continue to use the service moving forward, which is sad as this is my main way to commu…

I installed Signal a while back and tried to convince as many people as possible to switch. But only 7 people in my contact list have Signal installed. Even when communicating with those 7 people i tend to use WhatsApp because i tend to process all my messages at once without switching apps.

Re: Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders

#45

Post by pavanky »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #13

I kind of have to wonder what Jan Koum and Brian Acton were thinking (OK, I don't really wonder - they got paid billions of dollars, who wouldn't do it). But, of course, if you sell a company for billions of dollars, there is the obvious expectation that within some time frame your company will earn revenue and profit to support that valuation. You can't complain "they're adding ads!" unless you have a credible solut…

I was happy paying a subscription fee to whatsapp when it was still a thing. I dont know if facebook has ever made money off of ads shown to me.

Same goes with google and the subscription I pay for google music.

Re: Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders

#46

Post by Rjevski »

mentos wrote: post #29
GFischer wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every company I've worked for wants an official WhatsApp business API. And apparently that's what they proposed to Sandberg, according to the article, but the financial projections were nowhere near what ads would bring.

Ha think about all of the surface area on Facebook employees faces/arms that you could tattoo advertising on. I wonder if they have considered the financial opportunity cost there?

It’s just a matter of time. ;)

Re: Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders

#48

Post by slowmotiony »

cdelsolar wrote: post #5
slowmotiony wrote: post #3

Right click on link --> open in private mode to avoid paywall

does this provide revenue to the journalists that wrote this article?

The page is still full of ads so I imagine yes it does

Re: Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders

#50

Post by scarejunba »

nottorp wrote: post #26
1123581321 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever called to cancel the WSJ? I have stopped the WSJ three times and the FT twice (same phone service.) It’s easy to do. They will make a retention offer but will not do things like hang up on you, require you to have moved out of your area, make you wait, etc. Of course I prefer self-service cancellation to be an option, but if the personal service route is handled well, it’s a small negative in my book, n…

Oh wait. >They will make a retention offer but will not do things like hang up on you, REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE MOVED OUT OF YOUR AREA You're stating this like it's a normal requirement for canceling subscriptions. I understand you're praising WSJ for not doing that but... Do you accept treatment like this in the US? Are press subscriptions a lifetime commitment over there? Do I need to indenture my firstborn to any magaz…

Give me a break. The WSJ cancellation is absolute crap (I've done it twice before and it's a pain in the ass because I have to call during business hours) but the Guardian is way worse.

This is common practice outside the US too. Which newspapers have you tried to cancel?

Post reply on HN