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Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

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Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#31

Post by LuciusVerus »

jbotz wrote: post #23
azangru wrote: post #16

Why is the conclusion in that tweet "the billionth reason to break down and regulate Facebook" rather than "the billionth reason not to use whatsapp as the de facto phone and text messaging platform"?

Because it isn't a question of individual choice. I use Signal as much as possible, but here in Brazil it seems WhatsApp/Facebook has some deal with all the cellular operators by which the a) give customers "unlimited WhatsApp usage" that doesn't count against their 3 or 5 GB/month internet usage quotas, and b) give WhatsApp traffic preference when their networks are congested, meaning that sometimes Signal messages…

Yes, plus it's pointless trying to get my family to use Signal - they don't want to download an additional app to talk to me.

Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#32

Post by cronix »

azangru wrote: post #16

Why is the conclusion in that tweet "the billionth reason to break down and regulate Facebook" rather than "the billionth reason not to use whatsapp as the de facto phone and text messaging platform"?

Both my mobile and ISP have gone down over the years many times more than fb, and often for much longer (last year it was a solid week), and I live in one of the most connected points on the west coast.

Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#33

Post by ClumsyPilot »

darth_avocado wrote: post #24

I know it’s hard for a lot of people but why do we automatically blame everything on Facebook? The inaccessibility to WhatsApp completely brings life to a standstill for a lot of people across the world. Isn’t that more of a failure on the part of the governments, people and companies that exist there? How is a app that needs access to internet somehow a bigger necessity than the basic function of the device the app…

"Shouldn’t we focus on making those services accessible and affordable? "

This. If calls and international calls were acessible, whatsapp wouldnt exist

Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#34

Post by mandmandam »

igetspam wrote: post #17
mandmandam wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more of a utility, and to more people, than rotary phones were.

Which also were not a utility... Rotary phones are an interface to a utility. But let's be realistic, the copper required to connect homes to each other required a massive public works effort. Facebook turned on a server and ran some PHP to stalk college women. Big difference.

Ah right so. Well if we're being pedantic like that, I guess my oven is just an interface to the gas line, and my lights are just an interface to the leccy lines. Guess I don't need to pay my utility bills, which is great news because they're gone through the roof.

Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#35

Post by micromacrofoot »

azangru wrote: post #16

Why is the conclusion in that tweet "the billionth reason to break down and regulate Facebook" rather than "the billionth reason not to use whatsapp as the de facto phone and text messaging platform"?

Facebook exists, for one.

Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#36

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

I ditched WhatsApp when I switched from Android to iOS and WhatsApp would not import my history.

I lost years of texting and image history, and just decided there was no reason to use WhatsApp if they can’t keep my history (possibly the most important part of texting including the images!)

Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#37

Post by perl4ever »

igetspam wrote: post #17
mandmandam wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more of a utility, and to more people, than rotary phones were.

Which also were not a utility... Rotary phones are an interface to a utility. But let's be realistic, the copper required to connect homes to each other required a massive public works effort. Facebook turned on a server and ran some PHP to stalk college women. Big difference.

>Rotary phones are an interface to a utility.

I'm not old enough to remember firsthand, but I believe rotary phones (in the US) are generally from the era when the phone company was a monopoly and strictly controlled what was plugged into their lines. So I think it may be technically correct to call them a (part of a) utility and not just an interface.

Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#38

Post by Denvercoder9 »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #33
darth_avocado wrote: post #24

I know it’s hard for a lot of people but why do we automatically blame everything on Facebook? The inaccessibility to WhatsApp completely brings life to a standstill for a lot of people across the world. Isn’t that more of a failure on the part of the governments, people and companies that exist there? How is a app that needs access to internet somehow a bigger necessity than the basic function of the device the app…

"Shouldn’t we focus on making those services accessible and affordable? " This. If calls and international calls were acessible, whatsapp wouldnt exist

> This. If calls and international calls were acessible, whatsapp wouldnt exist

Whatsapp offers a whole lot more: read receipts, group chats, images and video, voice notes, location sharing, a web client (albeit a quite limited one), and it has a generally pretty good UX/UI (much better than Androids stock messaging app). Regardless of the economics, on a technical level calling/texting isn't competitive with Whatsapp.

Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#39

Post by grishka »

elzbardico wrote: post #29

ICQ was once the king of the hill, then Msn messenger, for a short time google talk, then WhatsApp. People find alternatives, things change all the time

But every time there are more people than the previous time. This means it's getting harder for everyone to switch.

And then there's this: I have no idea about other countries, but over here in Russia, instant messaging got somehow consolidated over time. I used to have to run ICQ (as qip), Mail.Ru agent, Skype, and VKontakte (in a web browser) to be able to talk to everyone. Now Telegram and VKontakte cover 99% of my IM use. Some people do use WhatsApp, but not in my circles, thankfully. Some people have managed to delete their VK accounts without inconveniencing themselves and others much, but I'm not able to do that. Overall, the more users a social app has, the harder it becomes to switch away from it. Also — those old IM services only had one-to-one chats, but all the current ones have group chats, which make switching immensely harder. Can't imagine myself switching away from Telegram in the future for example.

Re: Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable

#40

Post by bsder »

ikiris wrote: post #11
runawaybottle wrote: post #2

The main issue with WhatsApp as the primary platform of communication is that it’s exclusive. You can’t actually switch to Signal and continue with business because you’d need everyone to switch with you. Tech has yet to go through it’s ‘industrialization’ phase where one of the main advents was replaceable/interchangeable parts. WhatsApp cannot be pointed to another network, it’s total vendor lock-in. Today happened…

Excuse me, tech went through that phase and promptly left it because people didn't care enough

Tech left that phase because there was no way to pay the bills.

Servers cost money to run--equipment, bandwidth, power are all a thing. The only viable way anyone has found to pay for that is ads. So, here we are.

You pay for the product or you are the product.

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