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How many people can you reach with WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Messenger? How many people can you reach with SMS? Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/2365 https://x

by fowlie 6y ago

How many people can you reach with WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Messenger? How many people can you reach with SMS? Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/2365 https://xkcd.com/2365

LeonM 6y ago
In Europe, Whatsapp is ubiquitous. FB Messenger and iMessage are pretty rare here. Edit: looks like I was wrong. I'm in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands and our neighbouring countries, Whatsapp is ubiquitous, so I presumed the rest of Europe was the same. I guess this proves that assumption is the mother of all failures.
- Hansi 6y ago
  In your country/social group. Messanger has a bigger footprint than WhatsApp in some of my social groups in Europe.
- coddle-hark 6y ago
  Also in Europe: The exact opposite.
- pqs 6y ago
  Europe is very heterogeneous. I'm sure social network usage is very different in Lithuania, Bulgaria, Spain, Norway or the UK.
  - pimterry 6y ago
    As a Brit living in Spain I can cover half of those, and in both Spain & UK whatsapp is absolutely everywhere. In Spain in fact it's ridiculous - surveys show approx 97% of the population saying they use it regularly (https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-statistics/#Spain https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-stati...). https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/02/16/inenglish/1424084620_570764.html https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/02/16/inenglish/14240... has some interesting background on why. I suspect also the fact that Latin America tends to use whatsapp quite heavily (https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-statistics/#LatinAmerica https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-stati...) probably makes a difference too.
  - Shorel 6y ago
    Viber is very used in some parts of Europe. More than WhatsApp. Latin America is basically WhatsApp and nothing else.
- Gwypaas 6y ago
  Depends on country, many has messenger as the primary app. In Sweden Whatsapp barely even exists. https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-statistics/ https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-stati...
- lokethien 6y ago
  Everyone use Snapchat in Norway
- l1ghthouse 6y ago
  Im also from The Netherlands. I don't use whatsapp at all... (for me its a bliss and removes the group chats insanity) iMessage and Telegram covers everyone I know.
- thorin 6y ago
  I'd say >50% of smartphone users have Whatsapp in the UK and >50% of smartphone users have FB messenger, of course quite a few have both. I prefer Whatsapp, but contacting a small or large business like a pub or takeaway often works surprisingly well with FB.
- dbspin 6y ago
  Ireland here - Whatsapp is ubiquitous, even amongst the elderly. Presumably because iPhones are still in the minority, so iMessage hasn't taken over.
ThePadawan 6y ago
Well my mom knows how to use WhatsApp. All the women in her knitting club are using it to stay in touch with their grandkids. She probably doesn't know what an SMS is (those are those things her bank sends her, right?).
- georgeolaru 6y ago
  Should be easy – SMS it's the "default" messaging app from a phone, isn't it?
  - ThePadawan 6y ago
    How would my mom find it? She knows that the green Whatsapp logo is for talking to her friends. She probably wouldn't click the envelope looking thing. (I'm not being facetious - IMO HN readers massively overestimate user capability.)
    - squeaky-clean 6y ago
      I agree completely. My mom still doesn't really understand the difference between phone calls, calls over Facebook Messenger, and calls over FaceTime
  - georgeolaru 6y ago
    @ThePadawan Got it now! WhatsApp did a great job in tricking users with their interface. No other pun intended, but it fits perfectly in the context: "What's the App?" I remember I missed a few calls from my mom recently, and she asked me if I noticed her missed calls. I didn't have any missed calls as she was calling me through WhatsApp, but in such a way that she thought is the "regular" way of calling. I explained, now she knows. Not sure where this is going...
bitcharmer 6y ago
> How many people can you reach with WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Messenger? 99% of all the ones I care about to be honest. Maybe it's a function of me being an eastern-european expat living in London, but almost every here (Europe) uses WhatsApp.
- mrlala 6y ago
  Yeah WhatsApp is the complete norm in the US but almost no one uses it in the US.
mantap 6y ago
A lot more than with SMS. You can send someone an SMS but they are not going to respond because either they cost money or they have some tiny allowance of them.
- bvcvbuiy 6y ago
  Where I live mobile plans include unlimited SMS. Also I have a dumbphone and I am the only person my friend send SMS too. That makes me quite a unique person !
  - mantap 6y ago
    The point is that the penetration of WhatsApp is way higher than the penetration of unlimited SMS plans. So whatsapp has broader reach. SMS only works if you live in a region where unlimited SMS plans are standard AND you don't have any friends outside of that region OR WhatsApp doesn't have market share there. Basically only US.
- Stubb 6y ago
  Or they know that responding via SMS only encourages the use of a messaging system whose time has past.
- georgeolaru 6y ago
  What is the limit of SMS allowance on your network?
  - milankragujevic 6y ago
    There are cheap postpaid packages with only data (a lot, >10 GB) and ~100 minutes, SMS is paid per message.
darren_ 6y ago
> How many people can you reach with SMS? Essentially no-one as we've all stopped trading actual phone numbers years ago.
- raziel2p 6y ago
  Eh, most messengers use phone number as the primary identifier these days. Whether I use Telegram, Signal or WhatsApp, I add people using their phone number. In the last 3 years or so I can think of one exception where someone preferred Discord but I still got their phone number as a "backup".
  - darren_ 6y ago
    Over here it's either LINE (does support adding by number but can't remember the last time I used that, literally years) or FB/Instagram.
Abishek_Muthian 6y ago
In India, WhatsApp is the gateway to Internet for millions as many of its users wouldn't have ever opened a browser or received an email. WhatsApp new version updates gets prime time News spot in even prominent, respected News channel. Social structures are being built on WhatsApp here, Relatives get offended when you don't join their WhatsApp groups, people don't believe when you say that you don't use WhatsApp, Package disptach details from eCommerce arrive through WhatsApp(no permissions asked) and of course spam arrives through WhatsApp(Local shops wish for your birthday because you signed up for that damn discount card 10 years ago).

by fowlie 6y ago

How many people can you reach with WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Messenger? How many people can you reach with SMS? Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/2365 https://xkcd.com/2365

LeonM 6y ago

In Europe, Whatsapp is ubiquitous. FB Messenger and iMessage are pretty rare here. Edit: looks like I was wrong. I'm in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands and our neighbouring countries, Whatsapp is ubiquitous, so I presumed the rest of Europe was the same. I guess this proves that assumption is the mother of all failures.

Hansi 6y ago
In your country/social group. Messanger has a bigger footprint than WhatsApp in some of my social groups in Europe.
coddle-hark 6y ago
Also in Europe: The exact opposite.
pqs 6y ago
Europe is very heterogeneous. I'm sure social network usage is very different in Lithuania, Bulgaria, Spain, Norway or the UK.
- pimterry 6y ago
  As a Brit living in Spain I can cover half of those, and in both Spain & UK whatsapp is absolutely everywhere. In Spain in fact it's ridiculous - surveys show approx 97% of the population saying they use it regularly (https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-statistics/#Spain https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-stati...). https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/02/16/inenglish/1424084620_570764.html https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/02/16/inenglish/14240... has some interesting background on why. I suspect also the fact that Latin America tends to use whatsapp quite heavily (https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-statistics/#LatinAmerica https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-stati...) probably makes a difference too.
- Shorel 6y ago
  Viber is very used in some parts of Europe. More than WhatsApp. Latin America is basically WhatsApp and nothing else.
Gwypaas 6y ago
Depends on country, many has messenger as the primary app. In Sweden Whatsapp barely even exists. https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-statistics/ https://www.messengerpeople.com/global-messenger-usage-stati...
lokethien 6y ago
Everyone use Snapchat in Norway
l1ghthouse 6y ago
Im also from The Netherlands. I don't use whatsapp at all... (for me its a bliss and removes the group chats insanity) iMessage and Telegram covers everyone I know.
thorin 6y ago
I'd say >50% of smartphone users have Whatsapp in the UK and >50% of smartphone users have FB messenger, of course quite a few have both. I prefer Whatsapp, but contacting a small or large business like a pub or takeaway often works surprisingly well with FB.
dbspin 6y ago
Ireland here - Whatsapp is ubiquitous, even amongst the elderly. Presumably because iPhones are still in the minority, so iMessage hasn't taken over.

ThePadawan 6y ago

Well my mom knows how to use WhatsApp. All the women in her knitting club are using it to stay in touch with their grandkids. She probably doesn't know what an SMS is (those are those things her bank sends her, right?).

georgeolaru 6y ago
Should be easy – SMS it's the "default" messaging app from a phone, isn't it?
- ThePadawan 6y ago
  How would my mom find it? She knows that the green Whatsapp logo is for talking to her friends. She probably wouldn't click the envelope looking thing. (I'm not being facetious - IMO HN readers massively overestimate user capability.)
  - squeaky-clean 6y ago
    I agree completely. My mom still doesn't really understand the difference between phone calls, calls over Facebook Messenger, and calls over FaceTime
- georgeolaru 6y ago
  @ThePadawan Got it now! WhatsApp did a great job in tricking users with their interface. No other pun intended, but it fits perfectly in the context: "What's the App?" I remember I missed a few calls from my mom recently, and she asked me if I noticed her missed calls. I didn't have any missed calls as she was calling me through WhatsApp, but in such a way that she thought is the "regular" way of calling. I explained, now she knows. Not sure where this is going...

bitcharmer 6y ago

> How many people can you reach with WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Messenger? 99% of all the ones I care about to be honest. Maybe it's a function of me being an eastern-european expat living in London, but almost every here (Europe) uses WhatsApp.

mrlala 6y ago
Yeah WhatsApp is the complete norm in the US but almost no one uses it in the US.

mantap 6y ago

A lot more than with SMS. You can send someone an SMS but they are not going to respond because either they cost money or they have some tiny allowance of them.

bvcvbuiy 6y ago
Where I live mobile plans include unlimited SMS. Also I have a dumbphone and I am the only person my friend send SMS too. That makes me quite a unique person !
- mantap 6y ago
  The point is that the penetration of WhatsApp is way higher than the penetration of unlimited SMS plans. So whatsapp has broader reach. SMS only works if you live in a region where unlimited SMS plans are standard AND you don't have any friends outside of that region OR WhatsApp doesn't have market share there. Basically only US.
Stubb 6y ago
Or they know that responding via SMS only encourages the use of a messaging system whose time has past.
georgeolaru 6y ago
What is the limit of SMS allowance on your network?
- milankragujevic 6y ago
  There are cheap postpaid packages with only data (a lot, >10 GB) and ~100 minutes, SMS is paid per message.

darren_ 6y ago

> How many people can you reach with SMS? Essentially no-one as we've all stopped trading actual phone numbers years ago.

raziel2p 6y ago
Eh, most messengers use phone number as the primary identifier these days. Whether I use Telegram, Signal or WhatsApp, I add people using their phone number. In the last 3 years or so I can think of one exception where someone preferred Discord but I still got their phone number as a "backup".
- darren_ 6y ago
  Over here it's either LINE (does support adding by number but can't remember the last time I used that, literally years) or FB/Instagram.

Abishek_Muthian 6y ago

In India, WhatsApp is the gateway to Internet for millions as many of its users wouldn't have ever opened a browser or received an email. WhatsApp new version updates gets prime time News spot in even prominent, respected News channel. Social structures are being built on WhatsApp here, Relatives get offended when you don't join their WhatsApp groups, people don't believe when you say that you don't use WhatsApp, Package disptach details from eCommerce arrive through WhatsApp(no permissions asked) and of course spam arrives through WhatsApp(Local shops wish for your birthday because you signed up for that damn discount card 10 years ago).