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Tell HN: WhatsApp Is Down

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41–50 of 132 posts

Re: Tell HN: WhatsApp Is Down

#43
post #27

Seems global outage: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/25/whatsapp-is-down-globally.ht... Each time this happens I try to recruit more people to use Signal.

Signal is just another centralised architecture. You should recruit people to Matrix , which supports Federation.

Yep. I host my own server and have it federated. That part was simple.

It was a struggle to get my core group of friends to sign up, and I just sort of haven't bothered trying to get anyone outside that group to try it. They are not technical people in the hn sense but are vastly more competent than the average joe.

It's the normies at large who dictate comms platforms really. Things like matching emoji support and easy + performant video and picture sharing are absolutely crucial.

Re: Tell HN: WhatsApp Is Down

#45

In Europe it's used a lot by small businesses etc. it's pretty bad if it's not reliable. The metaverse better be real good, else Meta will be in serious decline.

> The metaverse better be real good

They’ve invented legs, I’m not sure what else you’d need.

Re: Tell HN: WhatsApp Is Down

#47
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can still text regularly though, so it isn't that much of an issue if there's a real need to communicate. Edit: I feel like every response I'm getting is: 'but texting is expensive, especially with foreign contacts'. Sure, but do you really need to send 100 texts in the odd hour that Whatsapp is offline sometimes, or can they wait? Parent wrote 'This is a big issue in Europe', which is what I'm responding to. I…

It’s generally bad etiquette to send SMS because it forces the other side to potentially have to pay money to reply. And if it’s cross-border then just forget it. Unless you are both on iPhones.

Yeah, but it's not considered bad etiquette to give in to WhatsApp's nagging to send your complete contacts so they can build their fscking social graph, thereby grossly violating EU GDPR in that phone numbers are personally identifiable information? And yes, it's you who's violating that law by handing out PII others shared with you under an implied assumption of confidentiality unless you've written consent by everybody stored in your contacts.

Re: Tell HN: WhatsApp Is Down

#49
post #14
post #10

This is a big issue in Europe. Everyone I know does text communication exclusively through WhatApp.

They can still text regularly though, so it isn't that much of an issue if there's a real need to communicate. Edit: I feel like every response I'm getting is: 'but texting is expensive, especially with foreign contacts'. Sure, but do you really need to send 100 texts in the odd hour that Whatsapp is offline sometimes, or can they wait? Parent wrote 'This is a big issue in Europe', which is what I'm responding to. I…

Every SMS I send nationally costs me 0.30€ my brother. I am not even going to bother looking what it costs me to text outside the country (even if inside the EU) or to send an MMS.
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