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I found Durov's plans to monetize Telegram most interesting. https://t.me/durov/142 https://t.me/durov/142 Team features (competing with Slack/Discord?), ad t

by nikivi 6y ago

I found Durov's plans to monetize Telegram most interesting. https://t.me/durov/142 https://t.me/durov/142 Team features (competing with Slack/Discord?), ad tools for telegram channels and premium stickers. Whilst keeping all the existing Telegram features.

forgotmypw17 6y ago
here is a copy for those not using tgram -- As Telegram approaches 500 million active users, many of you are asking the question – who is going to pay to support this growth? After all, more users mean more expenses for traffic and servers. A project of our size needs at least a few hundred million dollars per year to keep going. For most of Telegram’s history, I paid for the expenses of the company from my personal savings. However, with its current growth Telegram is on track to reach billions of users and to require appropriate funding. When a tech project reaches this scale, typically there are two options – start earning money to cover the costs, or sell the company. Hence the question – which path will Telegram take? I’d like to make a few points to clarify our plan: 1. We are not going to sell the company like the founders of Whatsapp. The world needs Telegram to stay independent as a place where users are respected and high-quality service is ensured. Telegram must continue to serve the world as an example of a tech company that strives for perfection and integrity. And, as the sad examples of our predecessors show, that is impossible if you become part of a corporation. 2. Telegram is here to stay for a long time. We began developing our apps for our personal use over 8 years ago and have come a long way since then. In the process, Telegram changed the way people communicate in several aspects – encryption, functionality, simplicity, design, speed. This journey has just started. There’s much more we can – and will – bring to the world. 3. In order to make points 1 and 2 possible, Telegram will begin to generate revenue, starting next year. We will do it in accordance with our values and the pledges we have made over the last 7 years. Thanks to our current scale, we will be able to do it in a non-intrusive way. Most users will hardly notice any change. 4. All the features that are currently free will stay free. We will add some new features for business teams or power users. Some of these features will require more resources and will be paid for by these premium users. Regular users will be able to keep enjoying Telegram – for free, forever. 5. All parts of Telegram devoted to messaging will remain ad-free. We think that displaying ads in private 1-to-1 chats or group chats is a bad idea. Communication between people should be free of advertising of any sort. 6. In addition to its messaging component, Telegram has a social networking dimension. Our massive public one-to-many channels can have millions of subscribers each and are more like Twitter feeds. In many markets the owners of such channels display ads to earn money, sometimes using third-party ad platforms. The ads they post look like regular messages, and are often intrusive. We will fix this by introducing our own Ad Platform for public one-to-many channels – one that is user-friendly, respects privacy and allows us to cover the costs of servers and traffic. 7. If Telegram starts earning money, the community should also benefit. For example, If we monetize large public one-to-many channels via the Ad Platform, the owners of these channels will receive free traffic in proportion to their size. Or, if Telegram introduces premium stickers with additional expressive features, the artists who make stickers of this new type will also get a part of the profit. We want millions of Telegram-based creators and small businesses to thrive, enriching the experience of all our users. This is the Telegram way. It will allow us to keep innovating and keep growing for decades to come. We will be able to launch countless new features and welcome billions of new users. While doing that, we will remain independent and stay true to our values, redefining how a tech company should operate.
- tenryuu 6y ago
  You can read the whole thing without an account, it is a public channel and the entire message is displayed on the t.me link. It's a bit jarring on a desktop browser because it looks like the post is cut off, but it's just a really really weird overflow with scrolling
  - forgotmypw17 6y ago
    When I reached the page, I only saw a ,,view in telegram,, button.
    - ruined 6y ago
      it loads the page content with js for some reason
cblconfederate 6y ago
They should integrate direct payments/donations.
- aaomidi 6y ago
  Technically already exists through payment bot api
  - hungryforcodes 6y ago
    But who knows that? It's poorly documented, obviously, as I'm a big Telegram fan, and this is the first I've heard of it.
    - ffpip 6y ago
      Telegram's documentation is fantastic. Everything is updated, and their API allows building your own app. It's that open https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments ^ first result for telegram bot payments
      - hungryforcodes 6y ago
        Nice, I hadn't seen this before. Thanks!
- bigdatov 6y ago
  As comment below noted they do have payments integrated which nobody uses, however, two main issues are that: from Durov's vocal libertarian leaning stems their attempt to launch TON blockchain network (that was stopped by SEC) and also a sizable userbase proportion uses it for shady stuff (e.g., lotta Russians buy drugs with Bitcoin bought via exchange bots). Had they succeeded at this it would've brought together two sides of not only drug markets but like all kinds of shit (think everything not deemed appropriate by Visa/MasterCard) on a convenient platform with plenty of features. Sad to see those plans gone but what else there is to expect from authorities if you're about to make their jobs 10x harder.
adkadskhj 6y ago
I really wish Telegram would embrace open source, security audits, etc. It's one of, if not the, best UX chat message apps with so many features it's sort of mindblowing. I'd love to use them. But.. i avoid it, because something doesn't smell right. Allowing me to pay would be yet another right direction for Telegram, but i just can't move past the audit (and to a lesser extent, FOSS)
- perardi 6y ago
  Despite the potential security issues, I still use Telegram. Where possible, I prefer to type on my proper desktop keyboard, because I am a stubborn old man and you kids with your phones, and Telegram is just so nice in that context. It uses no resources, the UI largely gets out of the way, and message sync and delivery is 99.9% reliable in my experience. (Looking at you, Messages app.) I do worry on some level that, by not paying, I am the product in some sense. And I wish they had a full security audit. But, I have so many other potentially insecure ways for people to get my info, and really I’m too boring to stalk anyways, so I just can’t make myself too bothered.
  - pkulak 6y ago
    It's not your info that people can get, it's your chats, which makes "info" sound like the understatement of the year. Less so the past year that we've been in the same house at all times, but I generally chat with my SO all day long about everything on my messaging app. It's _not_ okay to have years of that history stored on a Russian app server based in Dubai. A security audit doesn't matter. I'll take for granted that the chats get to the server securely before being stored in plain text forever. Even if I could trust the current company to be 100% altruistic, I can't trust that data to be safe with them forever. Through state-sponsored attacks, company sales, new CEOs, new boards, etc.
- berkes 6y ago
  Telegram, the client, is fully FLOSS. You can even find it on f-droid¹, contrary to e.g. Signal, which is only available for installation via closed app stores. Do you refer to the server-stack? How would that being Open Source help you when you cannot ever verify what a server actually runs? ¹ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.telegram.messenger/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.telegram.messenger/
justapassenger 6y ago
After you strip out corporate BS from this announcement (taking stabs at whatsapp, for selling to ads company), themselves they're going to become one more ads supported business. Basically "Ads companies are horrible and not to be trusted. Btw, welcome to our new business model - ads"
elliebike 6y ago
I joined this, replied to the post, and now I'm being sent lots of creepy messages and dick pics from the men of the internet :/ Telegram has no option for "Only allow contacts to message me", it turns out. After lots of messages, they eventually offer to auto archive and mute people not on your contacts, but it's still fairly visible on the app. Perhaps Telegram should work on better abuse management before adding voice chat! I used to love the app but now I am considering uninstalling.
- BoumTAC 6y ago
  It does. If you block people sending spam, they won't be able to contact new people. They will have to wait people to contact them to engage the conversation.
- dotancohen 6y ago
  Go to `Settings -> Privacy and Security`. For each option (calls / groups / etc) change "Everybody" to "Contacts".
  - mediaman 6y ago
    Look again: none of the available options are for restricting incoming messages to contacts (at least on iOS).
- phillc73 6y ago
  In Settings / Privacy and Security / Blocked Users there's a "+ Block User" option. Clicking this brings up a list of all chats and people who have messaged your directly. Selecting a name blocks a user. Maybe even easier is pressing and long holding the name of someone who has sent you a message. In the vertical dots menu is then an option to block the user. I'm running v7.1.3 from F-Droid. I do agree though that an option to block direct messages from those not in my Contacts, or at least some kind of review process to allow a specific message from someone not in Contacts, could be a nice addition.
  - elliebike 6y ago

by nikivi 6y ago

forgotmypw17 6y ago

here is a copy for those not using tgram -- As Telegram approaches 500 million active users, many of you are asking the question – who is going to pay to support this growth? After all, more users mean more expenses for traffic and servers. A project of our size needs at least a few hundred million dollars per year to keep going. For most of Telegram’s history, I paid for the expenses of the company from my personal savings. However, with its current growth Telegram is on track to reach billions of users and to require appropriate funding. When a tech project reaches this scale, typically there are two options – start earning money to cover the costs, or sell the company. Hence the question – which path will Telegram take? I’d like to make a few points to clarify our plan: 1. We are not going to sell the company like the founders of Whatsapp. The world needs Telegram to stay independent as a place where users are respected and high-quality service is ensured. Telegram must continue to serve the world as an example of a tech company that strives for perfection and integrity. And, as the sad examples of our predecessors show, that is impossible if you become part of a corporation. 2. Telegram is here to stay for a long time. We began developing our apps for our personal use over 8 years ago and have come a long way since then. In the process, Telegram changed the way people communicate in several aspects – encryption, functionality, simplicity, design, speed. This journey has just started. There’s much more we can – and will – bring to the world. 3. In order to make points 1 and 2 possible, Telegram will begin to generate revenue, starting next year. We will do it in accordance with our values and the pledges we have made over the last 7 years. Thanks to our current scale, we will be able to do it in a non-intrusive way. Most users will hardly notice any change. 4. All the features that are currently free will stay free. We will add some new features for business teams or power users. Some of these features will require more resources and will be paid for by these premium users. Regular users will be able to keep enjoying Telegram – for free, forever. 5. All parts of Telegram devoted to messaging will remain ad-free. We think that displaying ads in private 1-to-1 chats or group chats is a bad idea. Communication between people should be free of advertising of any sort. 6. In addition to its messaging component, Telegram has a social networking dimension. Our massive public one-to-many channels can have millions of subscribers each and are more like Twitter feeds. In many markets the owners of such channels display ads to earn money, sometimes using third-party ad platforms. The ads they post look like regular messages, and are often intrusive. We will fix this by introducing our own Ad Platform for public one-to-many channels – one that is user-friendly, respects privacy and allows us to cover the costs of servers and traffic. 7. If Telegram starts earning money, the community should also benefit. For example, If we monetize large public one-to-many channels via the Ad Platform, the owners of these channels will receive free traffic in proportion to their size. Or, if Telegram introduces premium stickers with additional expressive features, the artists who make stickers of this new type will also get a part of the profit. We want millions of Telegram-based creators and small businesses to thrive, enriching the experience of all our users. This is the Telegram way. It will allow us to keep innovating and keep growing for decades to come. We will be able to launch countless new features and welcome billions of new users. While doing that, we will remain independent and stay true to our values, redefining how a tech company should operate.

tenryuu 6y ago
You can read the whole thing without an account, it is a public channel and the entire message is displayed on the t.me link. It's a bit jarring on a desktop browser because it looks like the post is cut off, but it's just a really really weird overflow with scrolling
- forgotmypw17 6y ago
  When I reached the page, I only saw a ,,view in telegram,, button.
  - ruined 6y ago
    it loads the page content with js for some reason

cblconfederate 6y ago

They should integrate direct payments/donations.

aaomidi 6y ago
Technically already exists through payment bot api
- hungryforcodes 6y ago
  But who knows that? It's poorly documented, obviously, as I'm a big Telegram fan, and this is the first I've heard of it.
  - ffpip 6y ago
    Telegram's documentation is fantastic. Everything is updated, and their API allows building your own app. It's that open https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments ^ first result for telegram bot payments
    - hungryforcodes 6y ago
      Nice, I hadn't seen this before. Thanks!
bigdatov 6y ago
As comment below noted they do have payments integrated which nobody uses, however, two main issues are that: from Durov's vocal libertarian leaning stems their attempt to launch TON blockchain network (that was stopped by SEC) and also a sizable userbase proportion uses it for shady stuff (e.g., lotta Russians buy drugs with Bitcoin bought via exchange bots). Had they succeeded at this it would've brought together two sides of not only drug markets but like all kinds of shit (think everything not deemed appropriate by Visa/MasterCard) on a convenient platform with plenty of features. Sad to see those plans gone but what else there is to expect from authorities if you're about to make their jobs 10x harder.

adkadskhj 6y ago

I really wish Telegram would embrace open source, security audits, etc. It's one of, if not the, best UX chat message apps with so many features it's sort of mindblowing. I'd love to use them. But.. i avoid it, because something doesn't smell right. Allowing me to pay would be yet another right direction for Telegram, but i just can't move past the audit (and to a lesser extent, FOSS)

perardi 6y ago
Despite the potential security issues, I still use Telegram. Where possible, I prefer to type on my proper desktop keyboard, because I am a stubborn old man and you kids with your phones, and Telegram is just so nice in that context. It uses no resources, the UI largely gets out of the way, and message sync and delivery is 99.9% reliable in my experience. (Looking at you, Messages app.) I do worry on some level that, by not paying, I am the product in some sense. And I wish they had a full security audit. But, I have so many other potentially insecure ways for people to get my info, and really I’m too boring to stalk anyways, so I just can’t make myself too bothered.
- pkulak 6y ago
  It's not your info that people can get, it's your chats, which makes "info" sound like the understatement of the year. Less so the past year that we've been in the same house at all times, but I generally chat with my SO all day long about everything on my messaging app. It's _not_ okay to have years of that history stored on a Russian app server based in Dubai. A security audit doesn't matter. I'll take for granted that the chats get to the server securely before being stored in plain text forever. Even if I could trust the current company to be 100% altruistic, I can't trust that data to be safe with them forever. Through state-sponsored attacks, company sales, new CEOs, new boards, etc.
berkes 6y ago
Telegram, the client, is fully FLOSS. You can even find it on f-droid¹, contrary to e.g. Signal, which is only available for installation via closed app stores. Do you refer to the server-stack? How would that being Open Source help you when you cannot ever verify what a server actually runs? ¹ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.telegram.messenger/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.telegram.messenger/

justapassenger 6y ago

After you strip out corporate BS from this announcement (taking stabs at whatsapp, for selling to ads company), themselves they're going to become one more ads supported business. Basically "Ads companies are horrible and not to be trusted. Btw, welcome to our new business model - ads"

elliebike 6y ago

I joined this, replied to the post, and now I'm being sent lots of creepy messages and dick pics from the men of the internet :/ Telegram has no option for "Only allow contacts to message me", it turns out. After lots of messages, they eventually offer to auto archive and mute people not on your contacts, but it's still fairly visible on the app. Perhaps Telegram should work on better abuse management before adding voice chat! I used to love the app but now I am considering uninstalling.

BoumTAC 6y ago
It does. If you block people sending spam, they won't be able to contact new people. They will have to wait people to contact them to engage the conversation.
dotancohen 6y ago
Go to `Settings -> Privacy and Security`. For each option (calls / groups / etc) change "Everybody" to "Contacts".
- mediaman 6y ago
  Look again: none of the available options are for restricting incoming messages to contacts (at least on iOS).
phillc73 6y ago
In Settings / Privacy and Security / Blocked Users there's a "+ Block User" option. Clicking this brings up a list of all chats and people who have messaged your directly. Selecting a name blocks a user. Maybe even easier is pressing and long holding the name of someone who has sent you a message. In the vertical dots menu is then an option to block the user. I'm running v7.1.3 from F-Droid. I do agree though that an option to block direct messages from those not in my Contacts, or at least some kind of review process to allow a specific message from someone not in Contacts, could be a nice addition.
- elliebike 6y ago