Many people where I am also use WhatsApp. I don’t, because I don’t use Facebook apps. It hasn’t caused me many issues, and in the few cases where someone won’t switch to Telegram or contact me on another platform, I accept that same as I accept that when using Lemmy I won’t get the same content I would on Reddit.
I didn’t say many.
I said everybody.
I don’t think I know a single person that texts over anything but Whatsapp. Businesses will reach out that way if they have your number. The government, too, sometimes. Every single person I know defaults to it and nothing else. My parents do. All my friends do. I may be able to convince a few of those to swap, but there is no way I’m convincing all of them. Again, “swap” here includes SMS texting. I’m saying this applies to all communications over phone that aren’t direct phone calls. Scratch that, actually, most of these people also default to Whatsapp for voice calls.
The one exception is that some of my foreign friends do use a different app. They use Facebook Messenger.
You can use Whatsapp and something else. You can’t get rid of Whatsapp.
You can’t get rid of Whatsapp.
I can repeat, if you like. WhatsApp is not installed on my phone. Everyone I care about talking to uses Telegram. I understand it may not be as easy in your case to get people to switch, but if it’s either Telegram, Signal, or nothing, and they care about speaking to you, they’ll switch.
No, it’s not “as easy in my case”, it’s impossible in my entire country.
It’d mean not having contact with friends, family, work clients, businesses and plenty of other conveniences.
I’m glad you’re self-sufficient enough to not interact with humans on the basis of their messaging app, but here in the real world, if a client gives me their Whatsapp contact and I point them at Telegram I look like a weirdo who suddenly wants to have a ten minute conversation about social media instead of doing their actual job.
So I can repeat, if you like. You can’t get rid of Whatsapp.
You can’t get rid of Whatsapp.
Very true, but you can also never ever give them your number and then get funny looks from friends, colleagues, and pretty much everyone in the UK.
I for one am proud of getting those funny looks.
Well, some of us need our phones for work, so…
…also not an option.
Kinda need people to be able to reach me. You know, for continuing to survive and stuff.
Rental agencies won’t contact you on anything other than WhatsApp where I live (im serious, they won’t, they have 45 other prospective renters who want the same place you do and they all have WhatsApp).
So it’s a deeper issue than just a content one as I need a roof over my head.
