Whatsapp was just too convenient at a time no good alternatives existed, and when Smartphones were not ubiquitous. It was free while SMS was not, and it ran on

Whatsapp was just too convenient at a time no good alternatives existed, and when Smartphones were not ubiquitous. It was free while SMS was not, and it ran on basically every cellphone that existed, no matter how shitty it was. Network effects mean that replacing it is extremely hard. I tried getting people I know into Signal, Telegram, anything else. All those attempts were short lived. I can't see it changing without some actual external intervention (e.g.: Meta being barred from operating it in Europe, etc). The example was just mentioned as an extreme thing that would move this particular needle, not as something I think can oe will realistically happen.