I am italian, and the main messaging platform here is WhatsApp. I didn’t completely quit, i just said “Hey, i want to not use it as much, so don’t expect me to instantly answer”, and that was the deal for a while. Then, i suddenly convinced the most important friends to switch including my mom, and now i can confidently say i could potentially delete my WhatsApp account and wouldn’t loose on much. However i’ve been thinking and i feel like an asshole for making them switch. They say it’s not an issue for them, but still feels like such a selfish thing to do. I am immensely against Meta, i do not trust their app, especially since it’s closed source and most of their revenue is literally data trafficking, but i also feel like a bit of a paranoid crazy guy. I love Signal and chose that as a platform mainly because they have no telemetry, no ads, no AI bs, it’s fully open source and incredibly user friendly (only annoyances are the centralization which is kinda necessary for the ease of use and the mobilecoin stuff, but it is not a biggie since it’s opt in and you’d have to specifically seek out for it unlike the Brave Rewards in Brave for example). What do you think?
No you shouldnt.
End thread
Couldn’t have asked for a better answer
why feel bad for suggesting objectively better software?
IMO it’s better in a sense that one may do damage vs one that would not
WhatsApp does a lot of damage. Even if they don’t read your messages (there is no evidence that they can’t, since WhatsApp is proprietary), they at the minimum know who you talk to and when, and they use that data across Meta services to track you.
I’m on Signal, if someone wants to reach me they can find me there.
I’m okay with not being instantly available to dozens of people.
Asking someone to add an additional free messaging app is maybe a 2 out of 10 on the effort scale, where 1 is “hand me that thing that’s next to you” and 10 is “give me one of your kidneys”.
You shouldn’t feel bad about asking anyone who claims to care about you for such a small favor even if it didn’t benefit them, but as others have already mentioned, it does.
Why shouldn’t they feel like “assholes” forcing you to use WhatsApp umin the first place? I quit WhatsApp years ago. Everyone I know uses either Signal or Telegram (still better than Meta).
Don’t overcomplicate things. Just stick to what you feel is right.
I’ve started replying to any meta site link with this sticker I found on signal
If people knew how meta treats their customers, then they won’t (I hope) stay there.
Who are Meta’s customers though? I assume it’s the shareholders in which case I imagine they’re being treated just fine.
Fossify isn’t encrypted. It looks worse than RCS.
Thanks for list!
You can leave the install both apps and use them both independent of each other. Signal for private conversations. WhatsApp for utility.
It’s your right to avoid for-profit and invasive platforms (especially from companies famous for causing addictions and mental health problems), and it’s their choice to switch if they want to communicate with you more easily. I’m in a similar boat with Discord.
How about Matrix? (Element X)
no retreat, no surrender
If you leave them to choose between WhatsApp and Signal, they’ll pick what they already have and what they’re familiar with. I deleted WhatsApp after they introduced MetaAI, and told people close to me, that they could only message me using Signal going forward. Just make sure you support people that have difficulty installing and using the app. When removing malware from my grandma’s smartphone, I also made sure to install Signal, and she now comfortably contacts me through it for minor things. It’s not like you’re inconveniencing them much: it’s just an app installation and basic setup, while the workflow is nearly identical; especially if you allow them to find you through your phone number (which I have disabled).
It isn’t an argument, because there are almost 50 chat alternatives out there, it’s like saying you have to use VW or BMW. To communicate with unknown people there are forums or an fediverse instance like Lemmy or Mastodon, If you want to communicate with your friends or family any of the above proposed chats is enough, or use your phone for what it is, to make a call (yes, this finction still works in smartphones without any app).
They say it’s not an issue for them,
So you think your family and friends are liars and shouldn’t be trusted?
Signal is good. In the meantime, check out Prav.
I think XMPP is great, but if we can’t get those closest to us to even use Signal, I don’t think an even more convoluted system will be easier. What makes Prav different from all the other XMPP apps? Edit: Never mind. The convenience of using a phone number is the difference. Which is no doubt easier.
Brother, using an open-source (free) messenger is good. Using proprietary, closed-source is bad. I deleted Whatsapp 1 year and a half ago. Told people they can find me on Signal or normal RCS/SMS messaging. Some came to Signal, the majority started contacting me on rcs/sms. However, now we can talk to Whatsapp people from an European messenger (Arnacon). Unlike BirdyChat and Haiket, it doesn’t require to be downloaded only from Google Store. And I prefer it to Google-Google Messages.
Tell me more about > Arnacon. Can you connect to WhatsUp users?
Yes, if you live in European Union. And if they activate interoperability with Arnacon in account settings in Whatsapp.
Thanks for clarifying, dragospirvu75@lemmy.ml
