> Aside from the number of people (network effects) Network effects is it. > if the answer is: "but network effects", why not Facebook messenger? This is a g

> Aside from the number of people (network effects) Network effects is it. > if the answer is: "but network effects", why not Facebook messenger? This is a good point, and I'm not really sure, but some guesses: - Branding. During it's initial growth WhatsApp was a FB alternative and FB was in decline. Even after acquisition, awareness of the ownership wasn't immediately widespread. - Contextual app differentiation. Facebook didn't separate its messenger from it's main platform quickly enough and even when they did, they're both conceptually considered a single package. People these days like separation of contexts. - Phone numbers. WhatsApp was hard-linked to your phone contacts from the off, making it familiar to SMS users. Facebook jumping on phone numbers has followed slowly in a less focused manner. - Less confusion for tech-illiterate. There's no posts or pages or walls. It's just like SMS. > it has the same reach if not greater. Anecdotal, but I don't feel this is true anymore. I certainly know a lot more people without Facebook than without WhatsApp.