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WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

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Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#381

Post by aftbit »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #332
tobib wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I'm still sceptical of Signal. It's free as well, paid for by donations but still. At the end of the day I'm not the one paying directly for the service I'm using.

Other people who run on donations: Public Radio, The Red Cross, all government services, all religions. It's fine to be skeptical of how they use their donations, but don't be skeptical just because that's their funding model.

Taxes to pay for government services are more like protection money than donations IMHO. If I were to stop paying, some angry people with guns would eventually come to my door to take me away.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#382

Post by grishka »

tinyhouse wrote: post #341
Normal_gaussian wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its worth remembering that whatsapp used to have an annual charge, and it grew successfully with that. The charge was only removed once FB bought them. Personally I don't know anyone that started using whatsapp after the fb purchase, so they were all happy to pay for their use of a messaging app.

That's not entirely true. They did charge something tiny to use the app (I think it was ~$2/year) but in many countries (outside the US where they were much more popular) they didn't block users who didn't pay. If you didn't want to see annoying reminders you would just pay and get rid of it. Many people I know never paid.

For me it simply displayed "the next year of service is on us" once a year, every year. Paying for WhatsApp was something of an urban legend.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#383

Post by cabamba »

qalmakka wrote: post #195
frereubu wrote: post #22

I'd love to give up WhatsApp, but network effects are key here. I tried moving my extended family off WhatsApp onto Signal a couple of years ago and it failed miserably because the app wasn't nearly as easy to use, and they had all their friends on Whatsapp. Has anyone here had any success moving a large group of people onto something like Signal or Telegram? If so, do you have any tips?

I managed to get almost everyone I know on Telegram in the last few years, to the point I get a WhatsApp message less than once a week. On the other hand, I usually hundreds of messages daily on Telegram. It's not hard if there's already interest among the people you talk with and you find the right way to get them on board.

Don't you think that Telegram has the same monetization problems (it burns "a few hundred million dollars a year" while the owner left Russia with $300m in his bank account a few years ago) and they already announced their monetization plans https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/23/telegram-to-launch-an-ad-p... Where would you move next?

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#384

Post by SllX »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #332
tobib wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I'm still sceptical of Signal. It's free as well, paid for by donations but still. At the end of the day I'm not the one paying directly for the service I'm using.

Other people who run on donations: Public Radio, The Red Cross, all government services, all religions. It's fine to be skeptical of how they use their donations, but don't be skeptical just because that's their funding model.

Taxes are not donations.

Your example of religions is also suspect. To be blunt we perceive it that way in places and times where established Churches are legally independent and separate from the government. It’s not always and often isn’t true, or at least isn’t the case by default in some places.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_tax

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tithe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya

Compare and contrast with Alms, the more charitable less compulsory concept:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alms

Just one more reason to love separation of Church and State and the prohibition on Congress on making laws respecting an establishment of religion.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#385

Post by idlecool »

grishka wrote: post #382
tinyhouse wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not entirely true. They did charge something tiny to use the app (I think it was ~$2/year) but in many countries (outside the US where they were much more popular) they didn't block users who didn't pay. If you didn't want to see annoying reminders you would just pay and get rid of it. Many people I know never paid.

For me it simply displayed "the next year of service is on us" once a year, every year. Paying for WhatsApp was something of an urban legend.

i paid for whatsapp back in 2012. it was a paid app on the app store. it wasn't much - $1, and everyone had to pay for it to download. later they made it a free app. i am more than happy to pay for a messaging app for myself and my close family, and i dont like the idea of sharing the data with fb. there needs to be a paid alternative.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#386

Post by the_arun »

Zelphyr wrote: post #285

It has been said that companies that build rely too heavily on the public, free API’s of another service are doomed when that service decides to monetize those API’s. See, for example, API users of Google Maps. I think we are now at the point where this applies to individuals. If a person or group of people rely too heavily on a single free service then they’re going to feel pain when that service finally decides to…

I agree there is no free lunch. But for that I don't want to sell everything & stand naked. Instead Whatsapp should introduce features on top of their platform - like Payments and make money out of that. Or add a throttle on number of messages people send per day or something. No free lunch is not an excuse for stealing data.

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#387

Post by jimkleiber »

Zelphyr wrote: post #285

It has been said that companies that build rely too heavily on the public, free API’s of another service are doomed when that service decides to monetize those API’s. See, for example, API users of Google Maps. I think we are now at the point where this applies to individuals. If a person or group of people rely too heavily on a single free service then they’re going to feel pain when that service finally decides to…

What if we users decided to organize and have more bargaining power over how these apps function?

Re: WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app

#390

Post by sthnblllII »

dvtrn wrote: post #375
esperent wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even my mother, in her 70s, who somehow always manages to have a new virus or piece of crapware on her laptop every time I visit, knows about the importance of this thing called "privacy" and had no trouble grasping the idea that everything she shares on FB is recorded and used for advertising. It's not a hard concept, and it's not just tech people who care about it. It doesn't require any knowledge of tech to unders…

Am I off the mark in guessing your mother, in her 70’s has some strong opinions about one Senator Joe McCarthy or Hoover? Has she ever spoken much about living through that period-assuming your family are American? My apologies for the imposition if that’s not the case.

J Edger Hoover was a cross dressing homosexual who collected blackmail on political opponents while he was himself being blackmailed by organized crime.

https://www.mojeek.com/search?q=j+edgar+hoover+blackmail

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