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The first comment there: > now everybody needs to use a mix of iMessage, WhatsApp, and Slack It's funny whenever I see someone list the chat systems that "eve
by ken 8y ago
The first comment there:
> now everybody needs to use a mix of iMessage, WhatsApp, and Slack
It's funny whenever I see someone list the chat systems that "everybody needs to use" because they're always different.
The top chat systems that I need to use to communicate with my friends/colleagues are Messenger, Hangouts, and Threema. I haven't used Slack in years, since I left tech. I've never seen anyone use WhatsApp in real life, or heard anyone ask that I install it. I occasionally use the Messages app but usually just for SMS.
There's probably 10 or 12 different incompatible chat systems in common use today, and which 3-4 you use on a daily basis depends on your geography and culture and industry. And that's kind of awful.
- qwerty9876 8y agoWhatsApp is a non-US thing. In Europe, it has de facto replaced SMS
- josteink 8y agoOnly in parts of Europe. In some cliques.
- Kurtz79 8y agoIn Italy, Spain is used by just about everyone, not "some cliques", and the statment that has "replaced SMS" is a fair assessment. Can't say about other countries.
- noobermin 8y agoDitto in Asia. In Singapore, no one texts and hardly use fb messenger but whatsapp use is prevalent.
- OnlyLys 8y agoSame thing in neighbouring Malaysia. Everyone operates under the assumption that you are contactable via WhatsApp. Recently I even had doctor and car service appointments booked through WhatsApp.
- slfnflctd 8y agoBased on some quick searches & napkin math, WhatsApp appears to be currently in use by a little over 5% of the U.S. population.
- runn1ng 8y agoIt depends on country. In Czech Republic, what's popular is Messenger. In western Europe, WhatsApp is quite popular. In eastern Europe, people like Viber (and some people Telegram). I am living in SEAsia now, and here it also depends on country. In some countries, WhatsApp rules; but in others, Line (weird Japanese thing) is popular. In Vietnam, where I am now, Zalo is popular; it's basically Whatsapp-but-Vietnamese; people like it, because it has Vietnamese stickers. Of course China has its own ecosystem. One of the features that determine how a chat program is popular are stupid stuff like localized stickers, or how well is the whole UX localized to the given language. (And how much is the program blocked in the given country.)
- rswail 8y agoActually LINE is Korean, owned by Naver. Big in Thailand and some other Asian countries. The Asian chat apps are Wechat (owned by Tencent), Alichat (owned by Alibaba) and LINE (owned by Naver via a Japanese sub). They are all competing now to capture the market share, We/Ali are competing hard in China and for many Chinese users, Wechat is the internet. It has embedded apps and a payment network. Alibaba are coming from behind. WePay/AliPay/LINE Pay are their correlating payment networks. Whatsapp is not big at all in Asia, it also doesn't have the various support things that people want, like a) stickers and sticker markets (big money on sticker sales), b) "cute" characters and associated toys/cards/etc, c) a payment system that lets kids easily buy virtual stuff like stickers and then extends to support retail/transit etc. That "stupid stuff" is actually worth a fortune. Disclosure: Working with LINE on transit related applications.