Poll: Switching from WhatsApp • Hacker News Board

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#581

Post by some_random » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 3:59 PM UTC

s_dev wrote: post #463

FiloSottile wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a reminder, Telegram groups are not encrypted at all, and 1:1 chats are not encrypted by default, so while WhatsApp might see your contacts, Telegram can see most of your messages.

As a reminder encrypted messages aren't easily searchable -- this is a simple trade off and not some dark pattern default. Many Telegram users are away of it's quirks and how it operates differently to other IMs. Any tool will do damage in the hands of a bad workman. A good way to infer Telegram is reliable is how many despotic tyrants and corrupt countries ban it.

>A good way to infer Telegram is reliable is how many despotic tyrants and corrupt countries ban it.

No, this only tells you that it's used en mass in those countries.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#582

Post by ska » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 3:59 PM UTC

melomal wrote: post #270

DangerousPie wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is true. Sure, you can maybe get your close friends or close family to switch. But I don't think my landlord or my distant relatives will install Signal just because I don't want to use WhatsApp anymore.

What about SMS? It's free for most plans.

That is really location dependent.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#583

Post by eitland » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:00 PM UTC

Some time ago I bookmarked this comment by tptacek:

> Everyone I talk to uses Signal; even my siblings, who are not technologists and who I do not talk to about this stuff, use Signal (sometimes to my annoyance, since iMessage works just fine when we're figuring out what each of us is bringing to dinner). But for the purposes of this post, almost literally any secure messenger is better than email.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22371316

Hopefully the fact that even tptacek can admit that convenience actually plays a role when deciding what messaging platform to use for everyday stuff can help certain people here lower their shoulders somewhat ;-)

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#584

Post by jcul » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:00 PM UTC

apexalpha wrote: post #155

Where is the "Don't switch" option? Because as much as I hate that Facebook bought them, they're part of what I would call "critical social infrastructure." Asking to leave WhatsApp is like cancelling your contract with your ISP and going offline just because you don't like the company.

All we can do is try.

If we do nothing then the problem only gets worse.

I considered just accepting it and moving on, but I've thought again and I'm trying to get as many contacts onto Signal as I can.

At least there will be another option and as much as I love matrix I think Signal is the best balance between user friendliness and privacy.

I made the mistake before of giving multiple options which just scares non-tech people off, so now I'm just pushing Signal.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#585

Post by rapnie » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:00 PM UTC

qwertox wrote: post #468

randomsearch wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s simpler. Boycotts don’t work at an individual level. I have been boycotting nestle for decades. Can’t say they’ve become less evil. That’s because the marginal effect is negligible for them and strongly negative for the individual (assuming you’re a fan of Kit Kat’s). Network effects amplify the marginal impact on the individual, because they lead to a monopoly with no true competition. Sure, you can lea…

I wish the EU would force messaging systems to also support interactions with XMPP or other similar open standards. There's nothing in their way to expect such a thing, except the lobbyists.

Interoperability enforcement may become part of the EU Digital Markets Act.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#586

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:01 PM UTC

childintime wrote: post #281

hoka-one-one wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly wish I understood what the big deal is. Don't give the app any permissions and you're good. All they can share then are your contacts.

> All they can share then are your contacts. Is the phone company allowed to share your contacts?

[deleted]

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#587

Post by pbhjpbhj » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:01 PM UTC

fsflover wrote: post #233

nindalf wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The question is "To which app are you going to switch?" And a reasonable answer is "your assumption is wrong, I don't plan to switch at all". I have no doubt that some people will switch, what I'd like to know if that movement is niche or mainstream.

Then this question is not for you. People who want to switch decided to find out which option is supported by the community more. No one is interested how many people stay on Whatsapp (I know that it's a lot).

I'm interested in how many stay on WhatsApp. If 1000, in the poll are moving to Telegram, but 10,000 are staying on WhatsApp that changes the complexion of the result considerably.

But then I'm off the opinion petitions should collect both for-and-against responses; government petitions should be required to do so.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#588

Post by ddorian43 » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:01 PM UTC

sgt wrote: post #231

ddorian43 wrote: post #128

The whole country (Albania) is in Whatsup. Unless you want to do social suicide you stay in it.

I thought that in Albania, telegrams are more common?

Nope, never heard of anyone using it locally.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#589

Post by masalah » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:02 PM UTC

slothtrop wrote: post #378

apexalpha wrote: post #155

Where is the "Don't switch" option? Because as much as I hate that Facebook bought them, they're part of what I would call "critical social infrastructure." Asking to leave WhatsApp is like cancelling your contract with your ISP and going offline just because you don't like the company.

As someone who's never used such a service, help me understand what's so critical about it. Can't people just send SMS? Aren't people on fb anyway, which can be accessed with a container on Firefox? EDIT: got some answers re SMS. Fine, though that doesn't explain why there is so much overlap/redundancy with social media applications. At a glance, it appears I could do the very same things (groups, multimedia) messagi…

Concerning sms in many of the countries worldwide sms is not free/unlimited as the case in the us you only get a specific amount in your plan with extremely late/unreliable delivery so it's basically unusable for chat where I'm from and only works in the case of ads and credit card transaction notifications.

whatsapp also had the advantage of being simple to use requiring only your phone number and it worked on pretty much any phone you had from symbian feature phones to the latest iphone helping it to gain widespread traction among people.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#590

Post by kawfey » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:02 PM UTC

Whatsapp still hasn't made it to my US-based circles whatsoever, from ATL, Chicago, NY, STL, to Seattle. I downloaded it when I went on a Europe trip in 2016, and haven't used it since. I have a single group chat on Telegram full of mostly Europeans. I predominately use iMessage/SMS, FB messenger, and Discord with my local friend groups.