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A comment on What can you use instead of Google and Facebook?. Parent comment

Re:What can you use instead of Google and Facebook? by noncoml on Friday January 24, 2020 @12:43PM (#22140575)
We brought it to ourselves by not being willing to pay for WhatsApp.

WhatsApp before getting bought by FB was begging for money and is my understanding that it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Public had a choice of free(as in beer) products vs privacy. We chose the former.

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Re:What can you use instead of Google and Facebook? by chipperyman573 on Friday January 24, 2020 @12:45PM (#22140593)
Whatsapp used to cost $1/year which covered operating costs (first year free).
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Re:What can you use instead of Google and Facebook? by Jommi on Friday January 24, 2020 @12:54PM (#22140688)
Not true, WhatsApp did have a pricing test where certain users were pushed to pay 1€/$ per year. It was never unilaterally enforced.
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Re:What can you use instead of Google and Facebook? by lotsofpulp on Friday January 24, 2020 @12:58PM (#22140744)
Is that what that was? I remember getting the app and wondering why no one I knew ever had to pay for it.
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