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How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

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Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#141

Post by Yeul »

itikasp wrote: post #10
insane_dreamer wrote: post #8

What surprises me is that while WhatsApp has become an "everything" app in many parts of the world, much like WeChat in China, it has not done so in the US. In fact, I don't know anyone in the US who uses WhatsApp "internally" (the only times I use it is to communicate with people outside the US). The description of WhatsApp here is exactly what Elon wanted X to become (which clearly didn't and almost certainly now w…

Hi, I am one of the editors of this story, and we have also thought about this. In my opinion, one of the reasons why WhatsApp hasn't become the "everything app" in the US is because Apple/iOS devices are very popular in the country, where as in much of the world, Android is popular thanks to the availability of cheaper devices. Apple offers a suit of apps and features, including Facetime, that's not available for An…

Apple could release a fully functional iMessage for Android if they wanted to- hell the EU council would send them a cake if they did that.

One can speculate why they don't.

Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#142

Post by hocuspocus »

Yeul wrote: post #141
itikasp wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, I am one of the editors of this story, and we have also thought about this. In my opinion, one of the reasons why WhatsApp hasn't become the "everything app" in the US is because Apple/iOS devices are very popular in the country, where as in much of the world, Android is popular thanks to the availability of cheaper devices. Apple offers a suit of apps and features, including Facetime, that's not available for An…

Apple could release a fully functional iMessage for Android if they wanted to- hell the EU council would send them a cake if they did that. One can speculate why they don't.

The EU doesn't care. The DMA doesn't apply to iMessage, its market share is too small.

Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#143

Post by 1123581321 »

insane_dreamer wrote: post #8

What surprises me is that while WhatsApp has become an "everything" app in many parts of the world, much like WeChat in China, it has not done so in the US. In fact, I don't know anyone in the US who uses WhatsApp "internally" (the only times I use it is to communicate with people outside the US). The description of WhatsApp here is exactly what Elon wanted X to become (which clearly didn't and almost certainly now w…

When Facebook bought WhatsApp, either Facebook or WhatsApp was the top social network in just about every country. It was a critical purchase for Facebook that locked out competitors globally for years. I can’t find the map now; if anyone knows what I’m talking about I hope they can share it.

Free or cheap texting hamstrung WhatsApp’s growth in some countries like the US. It was better in countries where cell plans were expensive because data didn’t meter per communication like SMS and WhatsApp was efficient.

WhatsApp isn’t an everything app like WeChat.

Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#144

Post by throwaway2037 »

Scoundreller wrote: post #109
wenc wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why travel is so important -- it gets us out of our bubbles. Once I was brainstorming with a German colleague about a new business chat feature, and he said we should target WhatsApp as a channel. My American colleagues were like, "No one uses that these days." But Americans have little idea how popular WhatsApp really is in Europe, and Brazil (where it's colloquially called Zappy Zappy), and vast swaths of t…

> FB Messenger and iMessage are not as popular as we think outside of certain high GDP countries. Always funny when someone puts an AirTag in their luggage and wonders why they get few updates in a developing country. Uhhhh, yeah, their average baggage handler and airport employee doesn’t have an iPhone, that’s why.

How close does an AirTag need to be to an iPhone to get an update?

Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#145

Post by Gigachad »

beAbU wrote: post #108
ks2048 wrote: post #92

I'm in a place where WhatsApp is everywhere - "call/text me" is basically assumed to mean call or send me a message on WhatsApp. But, somehow I don't view it as a "cultural force" the way other social media sites are. I guess because it's just people talking/chatting/sending-pics with their contacts, so there's no algorithm driving/changing peoples' behavior. It's like the cultural force of everyone having cell phone…

WhatsApp is basically a conduit or utility at this point. It's a more usable layer on top of raw TCP/IP. Its completely unlike any of the social media services, even telegram. I agree, there is nothing cultural about it. I think its because there are no "discovery" features. You cant search for groups or people or whatever. You need to know someone well enough that they have your mobile number, in order to invite you…

How is it different to Telegram? Telegram has some discovery features but they are extremely poor, to the point I still only find out about groups when people send me a link.

Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#146

Post by Yeul »

conradfr wrote: post #66
Swizec wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It succeeded because it was around at the time where SMS messages where expensive, but smart phones where exploding in popularity. Not sure that’s true everywhere. In Slovenia we had unlimited texting way before we had smartphones. By around 2005 all carriers offered a “teenager” plan with unlimited texting and near zero phone minutes. Data was not yet a selling point.

SMS is one part of the story, group messaging is the other one.

WhatsApp let you send pictures. They came up with MMS but by then everyone was already on WhatsApp.

Now that I think about it WhatsApp really took the country by storm- the only thing that I can compare it with was Napster and Kazaa. And just like those it was all done by word of mouth! No commercials or ads. It was all organic.

Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#147

Post by marc_abonce »

Another reason that the article and other comments here are missing is the zero-rating deals that WhatsApp has with virtually all mobile providers, at least in Mexico. Your phone's plan will cover calls and an internet connection up to a certain data cap, but WhatsApp's data usage is uncapped. So, if you want to chat with a less mainstream app you'd end up paying more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-rating

Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#148

Post by vladvasiliu »

spookie wrote: post #82
wenc wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why travel is so important -- it gets us out of our bubbles. Once I was brainstorming with a German colleague about a new business chat feature, and he said we should target WhatsApp as a channel. My American colleagues were like, "No one uses that these days." But Americans have little idea how popular WhatsApp really is in Europe, and Brazil (where it's colloquially called Zappy Zappy), and vast swaths of t…

Apple devices cost more in Europe, a jump high enough that you might as well consider the competition. I'm taking VAT into account. That and, well... Google has been more supportive of EU countries than Apple. Apple maps was useless in the EU for a long time. Plus horrendous support across the EU. If you are in a big city, yeah you will find an Apple Store, otherwise tough luck. It has nothing to do with craftmanship…

I think the only point that stands is the price. Apple products are indeed more expensive in France than in the US.

However, Google Maps runs fine on iOS and you can purchase Apple products from other retailers and they will also handle warranty claims. None of my Apple products were bought from an Apple Store.

Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#149

Post by Zak »

hocuspocus wrote: post #139
ethbr1 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the time, Google was in a much weaker position to push against carrier demands, because it didn't have as firm control over Android OEMs. So it was trying to juggle carrier + OEMs + Android and keep everyone happy. Anything that upset one party wasn't going to happen. Only in more recent, Samsung/Pixel-centric times has Google had iPhone-like negotiating weight (and will).

But realistically I don't know why any carrier would give a damn about this. In 2013, SMS was already irrelevant in most of the world. And in the US pretty much everyone had had unlimited texting for a while. Encouraging people towards OTT messaging was beneficial to carriers that were now ubiquitously making money on data packages, not texts/calls.

End users are not the only customers for SMS. A large number of automated notifications, confirmations, and 2FA codes are sent that way, and carriers get paid for it.

Re: How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

#150

Post by immibis »

throw310822 wrote: post #106
itikasp wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, I am one of the editors of this story, and we have also thought about this. In my opinion, one of the reasons why WhatsApp hasn't become the "everything app" in the US is because Apple/iOS devices are very popular in the country, where as in much of the world, Android is popular thanks to the availability of cheaper devices. Apple offers a suit of apps and features, including Facetime, that's not available for An…

> because Apple/iOS devices are very popular in the country Apple is popular also in Europe, and Android has a 43% market share in the US. But in Europe nobody would use a messaging system that is broken for 40% of their contacts. So either in the US there is no intersection between the social circles of people that use Android vs Apple (highly improbable) or something in the US culture makes people willing to crippl…

I read a comment recently on Hacker News that a pesticide or herbicide popular in the US and banned in the EU also happened to be an endocrine disruptor in humans, for a hormone responsible for empathy (oxytocin). Don't know if it's true.
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