4 ms·

My understanding is that WhatsApp is also super popular in Europe.

commoner 5y ago
WhatsApp is popular in Europe because of its network effects, not because of any unique features it may have. If it were made unavailable, users would switch to Signal, Telegram, or the European-developed Threema. Businesses would favor this change, since they would no longer have to pay WhatsApp for every conversation they initiate after exceeding their free tier.* * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29711001 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29711001
- tluyben2 5y ago
  Threema is a paid app though so that would not happen imho. For people who care somewhat less about end to end encryption, Telegram is by far the easiest: it just works, everywhere and you have all your data everywhere. I understand that it is a safety feature that it is hard to run the other ones smoothly (independent) on different devices while keeping your history but it is a huge annoyance: in whatsapp you cannot even switch android<>ios with history intact. Matrix (Element in my case) works a lot better with end to end encryption in tact and my history there on all devices but it sometimes 'lost keys' on one of them (? No idea what happens, I did report it) so I have to login again (which is a pita); that is better than the alternatives imho.
herbst 5y ago
It depends on who you ask but Telegram and Signal are just as popular. Most people have more than 1 IM. It's been years when I couldn't contact someone because they just had WhatsApp. People who chat a lot use something different either way because WhatsApp lacks all the cool features.
- piaste 5y ago
  > It depends on who you ask but Telegram and Signal are just as popular. It depends on the countries. Some countries in Europe use Telegram and Messenger a lot (never heard of any where Signal is popular), others are virtually a WhatsApp monoculture. Not that it matters much. Using phone numbers as ID makes things relatively portable: it makes it much easier to adopt a new app, but if Whatsapp shut down tomorrow everyone would be able to easily find each other on Telegram/Signal. Very different from rebuilding a social network from scratch.
  - herbst 5y ago
    I can't remember the last time someone asked or even mentioned messenger. So yeah it really depends on the country, the circle you are in and more. But good point. Even thought I don't like the number requirement it will and does it make it easy for people to change.
prmoustache 5y ago
Yet many also have a telegram account, some also have signal. There is no big move out of whatsapp because people don't see the advantage of moving. but if whatsapp had to disappear one day, people with already a telegram account would quickly redirect their relatives to it.

WhatsApp is popular in Europe because of its network effects, not because of any unique features it may have. If it were made unavailable, users would switch to Signal, Telegram, or the European-developed Threema. Businesses would favor this change, since they would no longer have to pay WhatsApp for every conversation they initiate after exceeding their free tier.* * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29711001 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29711001

tluyben2 5y ago
Threema is a paid app though so that would not happen imho. For people who care somewhat less about end to end encryption, Telegram is by far the easiest: it just works, everywhere and you have all your data everywhere. I understand that it is a safety feature that it is hard to run the other ones smoothly (independent) on different devices while keeping your history but it is a huge annoyance: in whatsapp you cannot even switch android<>ios with history intact. Matrix (Element in my case) works a lot better with end to end encryption in tact and my history there on all devices but it sometimes 'lost keys' on one of them (? No idea what happens, I did report it) so I have to login again (which is a pita); that is better than the alternatives imho.

herbst 5y ago

It depends on who you ask but Telegram and Signal are just as popular. Most people have more than 1 IM. It's been years when I couldn't contact someone because they just had WhatsApp. People who chat a lot use something different either way because WhatsApp lacks all the cool features.

piaste 5y ago
> It depends on who you ask but Telegram and Signal are just as popular. It depends on the countries. Some countries in Europe use Telegram and Messenger a lot (never heard of any where Signal is popular), others are virtually a WhatsApp monoculture. Not that it matters much. Using phone numbers as ID makes things relatively portable: it makes it much easier to adopt a new app, but if Whatsapp shut down tomorrow everyone would be able to easily find each other on Telegram/Signal. Very different from rebuilding a social network from scratch.
- herbst 5y ago
  I can't remember the last time someone asked or even mentioned messenger. So yeah it really depends on the country, the circle you are in and more. But good point. Even thought I don't like the number requirement it will and does it make it easy for people to change.

prmoustache 5y ago

Yet many also have a telegram account, some also have signal. There is no big move out of whatsapp because people don't see the advantage of moving. but if whatsapp had to disappear one day, people with already a telegram account would quickly redirect their relatives to it.