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I'd like to stop using WhatsApp but it's complicated. The foothold it has over here in Europe (The Netherlands) is enormous. Everybody uses it, there's even n

by tdons 7y ago

I'd like to stop using WhatsApp but it's complicated. The foothold it has over here in Europe (The Netherlands) is enormous. Everybody uses it, there's even neighbourhood watches that use it, see: https://cdn.nieuws.nl/media/sites/305/2015/12/05153708/attentie-whatsapp-buurtpreventie.jpg https://cdn.nieuws.nl/media/sites/305/2015/12/05153708/atten... Any advice? Just pull the plug and pay the social cost?

DyslexicAtheist 7y ago
use Signal or Wire and get those you care about to use it too. assumes that you're able to live with the fact that those who don't migrate with you will be unable to messange you. I went through this by uninstalling WhatsApp (when I deleted FB) and informed everyone about it. Many agreed to install Signal and have grown to like it. Many of them I had to help during the process and keep them using it by updating them about security bugs and posts about the benefits and the growing popularity of Signal (such as this one https://www.politico.eu/pro/eu-commission-to-staff-switch-to-signal-messaging-app/ https://www.politico.eu/pro/eu-commission-to-staff-switch-to...). Some didn't migrate, but they are still able to reach me via email. I'm OK with that outcome of having lost some of those who didn't care.
72deluxe 7y ago
Yep! I'm not on it and never have been (I've been through all the IM systems over the years - MSN, ICQ, IRC, Skype, Hangouts, GChat, GTalk, AIM Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, iMessage literally used every single one, forced to use the memory hog Slack at work) and thought I didn't want to jump on the next bandwagon since SMS fills 99.9% of my needs, and if not, just email me. Turns out that people don't bother communicating with you if you're on SMS, and can never be bothered to write an email. This implies that the communication they were going to send is not important. If it were, they'd write an email. And people don't like the cost of MMS and soon stop sending me stupid pictures. I can archive email + SMS, not any of the other chat systems. I hardly get bothered by any notifications or interruptions or silly photos unlike my wife's phone that is constantly binging and buzzing and silly comments from "family chats" and work chats eg. "lol rofl haha random internet picture" It's refreshingly quiet. If others can't be bothered to find a method to communicate with you, they can't be very sociable? Their friendship and social interaction with you seems to be tied to an app. That's not a social cost - that's a social price.
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akvadrako 7y ago
I live in NL and stopped using WhatsApp when Facebook bought it. Maybe once a year I do need to install it temporarily to join some group, but mostly it's not an issue. It has advantages too - I get many of my friends to use Signal and I can avoid participating in many group chats that usually have a poor signal to noise ratio. Instead I just get a filtered report about the conclusion from one of the members.

by tdons 7y ago

DyslexicAtheist 7y ago

use Signal or Wire and get those you care about to use it too. assumes that you're able to live with the fact that those who don't migrate with you will be unable to messange you. I went through this by uninstalling WhatsApp (when I deleted FB) and informed everyone about it. Many agreed to install Signal and have grown to like it. Many of them I had to help during the process and keep them using it by updating them about security bugs and posts about the benefits and the growing popularity of Signal (such as this one https://www.politico.eu/pro/eu-commission-to-staff-switch-to-signal-messaging-app/ https://www.politico.eu/pro/eu-commission-to-staff-switch-to...). Some didn't migrate, but they are still able to reach me via email. I'm OK with that outcome of having lost some of those who didn't care.

72deluxe 7y ago

Yep! I'm not on it and never have been (I've been through all the IM systems over the years - MSN, ICQ, IRC, Skype, Hangouts, GChat, GTalk, AIM Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, iMessage literally used every single one, forced to use the memory hog Slack at work) and thought I didn't want to jump on the next bandwagon since SMS fills 99.9% of my needs, and if not, just email me. Turns out that people don't bother communicating with you if you're on SMS, and can never be bothered to write an email. This implies that the communication they were going to send is not important. If it were, they'd write an email. And people don't like the cost of MMS and soon stop sending me stupid pictures. I can archive email + SMS, not any of the other chat systems. I hardly get bothered by any notifications or interruptions or silly photos unlike my wife's phone that is constantly binging and buzzing and silly comments from "family chats" and work chats eg. "lol rofl haha random internet picture" It's refreshingly quiet. If others can't be bothered to find a method to communicate with you, they can't be very sociable? Their friendship and social interaction with you seems to be tied to an app. That's not a social cost - that's a social price.

deleted 7y ago
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akvadrako 7y ago

I live in NL and stopped using WhatsApp when Facebook bought it. Maybe once a year I do need to install it temporarily to join some group, but mostly it's not an issue. It has advantages too - I get many of my friends to use Signal and I can avoid participating in many group chats that usually have a poor signal to noise ratio. Instead I just get a filtered report about the conclusion from one of the members.