News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being unavailable. Parent comment

Re:Facebook going down meant more than just a social network... by system2 on Tuesday October 05, 2021 @02:09AM (#28755979)
No they aren't. There are hundreds if not thousands of competitors to these services. Infrastructure is just a web server. It is not similar to utilities like electric and water. They are built on physical cities which are controlled by the government.

Whatsapp is just an app. It just happens to be a popular one and people chose to use it. That's it. Just like ICQ, MSN Messenger, etc.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Facebook going down meant more than just a social network... by leokennis on Tuesday October 05, 2021 @05:55AM (#28757250)
> Whatsapp is just an app. It just happens to be a popular one and people chose to use it. That's it. Just like ICQ, MSN Messenger, etc.

Hard disagree. In some countries, WA is used by the government for communication between them and citizens. And it is also deeply ingrained into the private economy for communication.

I'm making the assumption here that Facebook likes that the above happens and that their IM app is the "chosen one". But usage like that also gives Facebook the obligation to make sure WA works.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Facebook going down meant more than just a social network... by herbst on Tuesday October 05, 2021 @06:14AM (#28757401)
> In some countries, WA is used by the government for communication between them and citizens.

Last time I checked everything but private use was against their TOS. Other than that this sounds like a horrible situation the government should be blamed for.

[ Parent | on HN ]