5 ms·

Curious, what were your issues with Whatsapp?

spideymans 6y ago
What's app has a pretty massive spam and fake news problem. It's an unfortunate side effect of WhatsApp's ability to forward message to your contacts. Users will forward fake news to their contacts, those contacts will then forward to their contacts and so on. It's essentially a modern reincarnation of chain emails of the 90s and early 2000s. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/02/whatsapp-coronavirus-misinformation/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/02/whatsap... I've had discussions with my friends and family on WhatsApp about them forwarding fake news, but they either don't understand (a lot aren't particularly computer literate) or refuse to listen. WhatsApp has tried to fix the problem by restricting the ability to forward messages, but this behaviour is so ingrained in the "culture" of the WhatsApp user base that software fixes are unlikely to resolve the problem. Anecdotally, I know a lot of WhatsApp's younger users refuse to engage with users on the app because of this behaviour. I've personally disabled WhatsApp notifications to control the amount of fake news spam I receive.' Edit: This behaviour is highly regionalized, so I wouldn't necessarily expect all WhatsApp users to have experienced it
- harpratap 6y ago
  Has nothing to do with the software. I use Whatsapp as my main IM and never had this issue. Pretty sure the same would happen on iMessage too if it targetted the same demographic. So your parent comment wasn't really a fair comparison because you left out the biggest IM service which does actually compete really well with iMessage without the vendor lock-in.
  - quantummkv 6y ago
    In my experience, it has. I use both iMessages and Whatsapp in India. I have never dealt with fake news and all the low signal forwarded memes and garbage on iMessages. Whatsapp, on the other hand, is filled with it. The only solace in whatsapp is that I can disable auto media downloading to escape it to some extent.
    - harpratap 6y ago
      This has more to do with people who use whatsapp vs people who use iMessage. If all the people who use whastapp migrated to iMessage, the same problem will happen there.
      - 0xCMP 6y ago
        It might, but part of why it happens is that the app makes it easy for that to happen and users are trained. Think how "redditors" talk vs how we do here in HN. We have clear rules about what this forum is about. Commenting "lol" -> "loll" -> "lolll" is not accepted. You'll be warned, marked "dead", or outright banned. Moderation in a messaging app only happens at scale via UX.
        harpratap 6y ago
        Curious as to what you think is the difference in UX of iMessage that doesn't encourage people to spread random messages to others? AFAICT iMessage allows people to freely forward messages to multiple contacts at no cost just like Whatsapp - https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/02/iphone-how-to-forward-imessages-or-sms/ https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/02/iphone-how-to-forward-imessag...
        ComputerGuru 6y ago
        One long press on WhatsApp to forward (on the same menu as copy, reply, and delete) as compared to a long pressed followed by “more...” to find forward on iPhone (and it was only “recently” added).
        quantummkv 6y ago
        Indeed. Even little frictions like these can go a long way to curb such spamming behavior. As evidenced on HN itself.
        harpratap 6y ago

What's app has a pretty massive spam and fake news problem. It's an unfortunate side effect of WhatsApp's ability to forward message to your contacts. Users will forward fake news to their contacts, those contacts will then forward to their contacts and so on. It's essentially a modern reincarnation of chain emails of the 90s and early 2000s. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/02/whatsapp-coronavirus-misinformation/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/02/whatsap... I've had discussions with my friends and family on WhatsApp about them forwarding fake news, but they either don't understand (a lot aren't particularly computer literate) or refuse to listen. WhatsApp has tried to fix the problem by restricting the ability to forward messages, but this behaviour is so ingrained in the "culture" of the WhatsApp user base that software fixes are unlikely to resolve the problem. Anecdotally, I know a lot of WhatsApp's younger users refuse to engage with users on the app because of this behaviour. I've personally disabled WhatsApp notifications to control the amount of fake news spam I receive.' Edit: This behaviour is highly regionalized, so I wouldn't necessarily expect all WhatsApp users to have experienced it

harpratap 6y ago
Has nothing to do with the software. I use Whatsapp as my main IM and never had this issue. Pretty sure the same would happen on iMessage too if it targetted the same demographic. So your parent comment wasn't really a fair comparison because you left out the biggest IM service which does actually compete really well with iMessage without the vendor lock-in.
- quantummkv 6y ago
  In my experience, it has. I use both iMessages and Whatsapp in India. I have never dealt with fake news and all the low signal forwarded memes and garbage on iMessages. Whatsapp, on the other hand, is filled with it. The only solace in whatsapp is that I can disable auto media downloading to escape it to some extent.
  - harpratap 6y ago
    This has more to do with people who use whatsapp vs people who use iMessage. If all the people who use whastapp migrated to iMessage, the same problem will happen there.
    - 0xCMP 6y ago
      It might, but part of why it happens is that the app makes it easy for that to happen and users are trained. Think how "redditors" talk vs how we do here in HN. We have clear rules about what this forum is about. Commenting "lol" -> "loll" -> "lolll" is not accepted. You'll be warned, marked "dead", or outright banned. Moderation in a messaging app only happens at scale via UX.
      - harpratap 6y ago
        Curious as to what you think is the difference in UX of iMessage that doesn't encourage people to spread random messages to others? AFAICT iMessage allows people to freely forward messages to multiple contacts at no cost just like Whatsapp - https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/02/iphone-how-to-forward-imessages-or-sms/ https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/02/iphone-how-to-forward-imessag...
        ComputerGuru 6y ago
        One long press on WhatsApp to forward (on the same menu as copy, reply, and delete) as compared to a long pressed followed by “more...” to find forward on iPhone (and it was only “recently” added).
        quantummkv 6y ago
        Indeed. Even little frictions like these can go a long way to curb such spamming behavior. As evidenced on HN itself.
        harpratap 6y ago