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I've been a student at the University of Waterloo for 8 years now, and I can honestly say that I don't know a single person that actually uses Kik. Maybe it's b

I've been a student at the University of Waterloo for 8 years now, and I can honestly say that I don't know a single person that actually uses Kik. Maybe it's big somewhere else, but certainly not here, where the product was created and holds its offices.

vskarine 11y ago
same can be said about Whatsapp which was founded and has offices in Mountain View, CA and I lived there for a while and never saw a single person using it. It's way more popular in other parts of the world: http://www.statista.com/statistics/321460/whatsapp-penetration-regions/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/321460/whatsapp-penetrati...
- DrScump 11y ago
  I read somewhere that Whatsapp gained a lot of traction in countries where per-text fees were still rampant, and the texting within Whatsapp just flowed as normal data with no per-message charges.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - collyw 11y ago
    When I reluctantly got a smartphone (I wanted interent for new flat, and it was the same price with or with a phone and data bundle as interent alone), I never expected to pay for any apps, especially not whatsapp. I had 500 free texts, and didn't see what the whole fuss over whatsapp was about. A few months later I had a conversation with my mum (who is in a diffrent country) and ten texts had cost me 8 euros (a few of which were yes / no replies). After that I was happy to pay for whatsapp.
    - aianus 11y ago
      Why not just use Facebook? I fail to see what problem Whatsapp solves that Facebook doesn't solve better.
      - morganvachon 11y ago
        > Why not just use Facebook? I know it's a difficult concept to grasp, but not everyone wants to be a cog in the Facebook machine. Besides, Facebook is banned in certain parts of the world, so niche alternatives are a good thing. > I fail to see what problem Whatsapp solves that Facebook doesn't solve better. Define "better". Installing Facebook just to use its messenger feature is akin to installing Photoshop just to resize pictures. Also, Facebook is a mobile data hog compared to most chat apps, and that matters to some folks. If you want a full fledged social network with all the trimmings, sure, Facebook is hard to beat; but if all you want is chat, use a chat app.
        tnecniv 11y ago
        > not everyone wants to be a cog in the Facebook machine From Wikipedia: "WhatsApp Inc., based in Mountain View, California, was acquired by Facebook Inc. on February 19, 2014, for approximately US$16 billion" > Installing Facebook just to use its messenger feature is akin to installing Photoshop just to resize pictures Facebook Messenger is a standalone app that doesn't even require a FB account anymore.
        morganvachon 11y ago
        > From Wikipedia: "WhatsApp Inc., based in Mountain View, California, was acquired by Facebook Inc. on February 19, 2014, for approximately US$16 billion" Fair enough, but it was the parent who specifically mentioned WhatsApp. Personally I'd rather just use SMS or XMPP; the first is built into the phone and "just works", the second is open and extensible, with a plethora of clients, and you can run your own server. And if you believe for a second that Facebook didn't create a full FB shadow account tied to your "messenger only" account, I have a bridge to sell you.
onion2k 11y ago
When I was at university I didn't know anyone who played sports. That says much more about my social group than it says about what went on at my university.

vskarine 11y ago

same can be said about Whatsapp which was founded and has offices in Mountain View, CA and I lived there for a while and never saw a single person using it. It's way more popular in other parts of the world: http://www.statista.com/statistics/321460/whatsapp-penetration-regions/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/321460/whatsapp-penetrati...

DrScump 11y ago
I read somewhere that Whatsapp gained a lot of traction in countries where per-text fees were still rampant, and the texting within Whatsapp just flowed as normal data with no per-message charges.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- collyw 11y ago
  When I reluctantly got a smartphone (I wanted interent for new flat, and it was the same price with or with a phone and data bundle as interent alone), I never expected to pay for any apps, especially not whatsapp. I had 500 free texts, and didn't see what the whole fuss over whatsapp was about. A few months later I had a conversation with my mum (who is in a diffrent country) and ten texts had cost me 8 euros (a few of which were yes / no replies). After that I was happy to pay for whatsapp.
  - aianus 11y ago
    Why not just use Facebook? I fail to see what problem Whatsapp solves that Facebook doesn't solve better.
    - morganvachon 11y ago
      > Why not just use Facebook? I know it's a difficult concept to grasp, but not everyone wants to be a cog in the Facebook machine. Besides, Facebook is banned in certain parts of the world, so niche alternatives are a good thing. > I fail to see what problem Whatsapp solves that Facebook doesn't solve better. Define "better". Installing Facebook just to use its messenger feature is akin to installing Photoshop just to resize pictures. Also, Facebook is a mobile data hog compared to most chat apps, and that matters to some folks. If you want a full fledged social network with all the trimmings, sure, Facebook is hard to beat; but if all you want is chat, use a chat app.
      - tnecniv 11y ago
        > not everyone wants to be a cog in the Facebook machine From Wikipedia: "WhatsApp Inc., based in Mountain View, California, was acquired by Facebook Inc. on February 19, 2014, for approximately US$16 billion" > Installing Facebook just to use its messenger feature is akin to installing Photoshop just to resize pictures Facebook Messenger is a standalone app that doesn't even require a FB account anymore.
        morganvachon 11y ago
        > From Wikipedia: "WhatsApp Inc., based in Mountain View, California, was acquired by Facebook Inc. on February 19, 2014, for approximately US$16 billion" Fair enough, but it was the parent who specifically mentioned WhatsApp. Personally I'd rather just use SMS or XMPP; the first is built into the phone and "just works", the second is open and extensible, with a plethora of clients, and you can run your own server. And if you believe for a second that Facebook didn't create a full FB shadow account tied to your "messenger only" account, I have a bridge to sell you.

onion2k 11y ago

When I was at university I didn't know anyone who played sports. That says much more about my social group than it says about what went on at my university.