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Try not to get mad please, but ... > Where is the "Don't switch" option? Because as much as I hate that Facebook bought them, they're part of what I would call

Try not to get mad please, but ... > Where is the "Don't switch" option? Because as much as I hate that Facebook bought them, they're part of what I would call "critical social infrastructure." No such thing as "critical social infrastructure." Could you live without whatsapp? Yes. Then by definition it is not critical. > Asking to leave WhatsApp is like cancelling your contract with your ISP and going offline just because you don't like the company. Not at all. Some areas in the US don't have choice of what ISP they can use, but you have many good choices for messaging apps. I am growing tiresome of people complaining (on HN, of all places) about how evil facebook and google are but will not go as far as cancelling facebook or using duckduckgo for search, or protonmail for email. Folks, if you are not happy, you have choices and they are free and very convenient. The services you complain about using for free are not the problem, you're just lazy. EDIT - you folks in the replies are basically proving my point. Instead of taking ownership over the freedom of choice that you have, you would rather make excuses to justify lack of initiative. That's not a healthy or happy frame of mind to box yourself in, and it gives too much of your emotional influence to the platforms. Like you folks are seriously comparing a messaging app to ISPs and heating in london...really? Give me a break, snowflake.

GregorBrandt 6y ago
Have you travelled or lived in central or South America? WhatsApp is critical social infrastructure. WhatsApp is used more than telephones. For everything. Businesses advertise their WhatsApp contact before, or even omitting, a telephone number. People you meet want your WhatsApp for communication, not your telephone number. WhatsApp has become critical to these countries as the primary form of communication.
nindalf 6y ago
> Could you live without whatsapp? Yes. Then by definition it is not critical. Can I live without heating in London? Yes I wouldn't die without it. But without heating it's extremely uncomfortable. I'd say it is critical for me because "dying/not dying" is not the criteria for deciding.
eldaisfish 6y ago
Your analogies are very poor and all over the place. Can you live without electricity? Sure, if you are willing to severely decrease your quality of life. Your ISP analogy is again flawed while the OPs' is reasonably relevant. A social communication app has a critical part to being relevant to use - the social part. It's a chicken and egg problem because if people don't use Signal or Telegram or wall, the app serves no useful purpose. The mere existence of a choice does not mean that all choices are equally useful or even relevant. This argument of "you're lazy" is (ironically) incredibly lazy and often results in software that is unreasonably hard to use - again, an analogy that i hope folks here would understand. Whatsapp works, is simple to use and has sufficient users to be critical infrastructure. Using "laziness" is a cop out. If something isn't broken, don't fix it.
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GregorBrandt 6y ago

Have you travelled or lived in central or South America? WhatsApp is critical social infrastructure. WhatsApp is used more than telephones. For everything. Businesses advertise their WhatsApp contact before, or even omitting, a telephone number. People you meet want your WhatsApp for communication, not your telephone number. WhatsApp has become critical to these countries as the primary form of communication.

nindalf 6y ago

> Could you live without whatsapp? Yes. Then by definition it is not critical. Can I live without heating in London? Yes I wouldn't die without it. But without heating it's extremely uncomfortable. I'd say it is critical for me because "dying/not dying" is not the criteria for deciding.

eldaisfish 6y ago

Your analogies are very poor and all over the place. Can you live without electricity? Sure, if you are willing to severely decrease your quality of life. Your ISP analogy is again flawed while the OPs' is reasonably relevant. A social communication app has a critical part to being relevant to use - the social part. It's a chicken and egg problem because if people don't use Signal or Telegram or wall, the app serves no useful purpose. The mere existence of a choice does not mean that all choices are equally useful or even relevant. This argument of "you're lazy" is (ironically) incredibly lazy and often results in software that is unreasonably hard to use - again, an analogy that i hope folks here would understand. Whatsapp works, is simple to use and has sufficient users to be critical infrastructure. Using "laziness" is a cop out. If something isn't broken, don't fix it.

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