WhatsApp's rise and recent PR efforts highlight a class of business models that I call "user domestication".

As Seirdy notes:

It just keeps getting more relevant. WhatsApp, GitHub, Twitter, Reddit…each disaster worse than the last. The companies in charge know that the users will just take it after having their autonomy taken first.

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232Y

seems like a lot of revisionist bullshit in this rant, eg:

WhatsApp rose by trapping previously-free beings in their corral and changing their habits to create dependence on masters

WhatsApp rose because:

a) If was free

b) it used data vs sms/mms which was becoming cheaper

c) it was cross platform at the time (blackberry, android, nokia, etc)

d) It used your existing phone number as your identifier, so onboarding and finding existing contacts was swift

Good article - but as it points out I am entirely powerless. I can’t move away from WhatsApp as everyone, absolutely everyone I know (in the UK at least) uses WhatsApp as their primary or only messaging app/service.

Absolutely agree. WhatsApp is the default in my country and all across Europe. For instance, I was on holiday earlier this month and the hotel I was staying in just contacted me through WhatsApp with check-in info. They hadn’t replied to earlier emails but defaulted straight to WhatsApp for communication. It would be a nightmare to move away from it at this point. At least it still doesn’t feel like a Meta app.

I wish i do not have to use Whatsapp. Unfortunately, i have to for business purposes, as i am in part of the world where Whatsapp is the main chat app that everyone uses.

Fortunately i have two phones (personal and business), so Whatsapp is only on the business phone.

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