Mark Zuckerberg: Threads users down by more than a half

Re:Mark Zuckerberg: Threads users down by more than a half by eertami on Saturday July 29, 2023 @04:35AM (#36918188)

There is no feature Twitter/X could bring to chat that would take users away from WhatsApp. It already covers 100% of it's users needs, is free, and has near complete market penetration in many regions. (If you are talking to anyone in Europe by text, you will always use WhatsApp)

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Re:Mark Zuckerberg: Threads users down by more than a half by newZWhoDis on Saturday July 29, 2023 @06:19AM (#36918696)

I don’t know a single person who uses “WhatsApp”. I have never had anyone, personally or professionally, give me a “whatsApp” username.

In the US, if you met someone via online dating and said “here’s my whatsapp” 99% of people would think you are a scammer or something.

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Re:Mark Zuckerberg: Threads users down by more than a half by baby on Saturday July 29, 2023 @06:30AM (#36918755)

I’m in the bay area and everyone uses whatsapp, and after that telegram or signal or insta

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Re:Mark Zuckerberg: Threads users down by more than a half by porridgeraisin on Sunday July 30, 2023 @02:31AM (#36928457)

Yeah. And in India it's _only_ WhatsApp. Nothing else. It's the default.

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Re:Mark Zuckerberg: Threads users down by more than a half by 2muchcoffeeman on Saturday July 29, 2023 @08:53PM (#36926537)

Easy: End to end encryption that’s not controlled by Meta.

It could take a while, but look at all the social media messaging apps from the past: ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, My Space, GChat, Orkut, Tumblr, Snapchat, FB messages etc

They come and go. I sure don’t know what the ultimate chat/social media app looks like.

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Re:Mark Zuckerberg: Threads users down by more than a half by eertami on Sunday July 30, 2023 @10:28AM (#36931454)

None of those services had even a fraction of the market penetration that WhatsApp has (in Europe and basically most places that are not North America.)

WhatsApp is used by teenagers, great-grandparents, businesses, everyone. When you give someone your number in Europe, they won't ask how to contact you, they will just send you a message on WhatsApp 100% of the time. Only tech nerds and small groups use Signal etc.

To be clear, I don't think this is a good thing. But it is simply the reality of the world. It's been like this for 10 years with no signs of changing. WhatsApp could of course die one day, but only if Meta does something categorically stupid or unpopular that forces people off the platform (eg, what Twitter is doing).

WhatsApp is not a social media platform and that's precisely why it is so universally used.

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Re:Mark Zuckerberg: Threads users down by more than a half by josephd79 on Monday July 31, 2023 @09:04AM (#36941944)

My 3 kids are teenagers. They don't use WhatsApp. They use iMessage or group chats on Instagram. No one I know uses WhatsApp, well they've never asked me for a WhatsApp username.

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