Between the changes to WhatsApp’s terms of service, the retirement of support for older operating systems, and the ongoing privacy kerfuffle with Whatsapp-owner Facebook in iOS land, plenty of folks have been making the switch from WhatsApp to other messaging services — Elon Musk included. Today’s poll asks: Have you taken the plunge and switched away from WhatsApp (assuming you used it at all)?
Switching messaging apps is probably the single hardest thing to do online, short of maybe changing your primary email address. And in large part, that’s because it’s not really up to you. We’re all stuck using whatever our friends and family have, and convincing them all to make the jump with you is a herculean task. (I still have to use Google Hangouts for this reason.)
Here in the US, that means things like SMS are still widely used since it’s the basic common denominator between everyone that owns a phone, but in many other markets, WhatsApp dominates. More recently, the tide appears to be shifting — not unexpected between the intrusive changes in the app’s privacy policy and the negative perceptions growing around parent company Facebook. We’ve seen an very vocal push from both privacy advocates and regular folk to move to services like Signal and Telegram, and people appear to be paying attention in a way they haven’t before.
So, have you switched from WhatsApp to something else? Feel free to chime in with your recommendations (if you have any that might help your fellow readers) or any tips for getting friends and family to make the switch.
