[HN Gopher] WhatsApp and the Domestication of Users
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WhatsApp and the Domestication of Users
Author : upofadown
Score : 21 points
Date : 2021-01-31 21:45 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (seirdy.one)
(TXT) w3m dump (seirdy.one)
| annadane wrote:
| The acquisition never should have been allowed. Everybody must
| reject Zuckerberg's attempts to own the world
| alexpc201 wrote:
| We should decide which information about us we give, and which we
| don't. No matter the app we use, noone should collect information
| about the app usage without user permission. This should be a law
| right now, but the cookies were more relevant, I pressume.
| Cynddl wrote:
| "WhatsApp's existing users were held captive by the fact that
| leaving WhatsApp meant losing the ability to communicate with
| WhatsApp users."
|
| I'm confused. I thought everyone was identified by their phone
| number, which can be used to receive texts from anyone.
| foolinaround wrote:
| Wow, never thought of an app's predatory behaviour akin to
| 'domestication' - but it is true, i find it incredibly hard to
| leave.
|
| the other interesting point the author makes is that the
| domestication can be inadvertently done by the app.
|
| So, what is a well meaning app creator to do? Is'nt that just a
| symptom of success? He mentions what Signal could have done (
| move towards decentralization) but not clear what Mozilla could
| have done?
| mantap wrote:
| The problem with WhatsApp is not that users are locked in. You
| can install as many chat apps as you want. WhatsApp has no
| exclusivity over its users.
|
| The problem with WhatsApp is that it only has one alternative. In
| terms of chat apps that use the signal protocol there's two:
| WhatsApp and Signal. And Signal is not quite as good as WhatsApp.
| It's certainly much improved but it's not there yet.
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(page generated 2021-01-31 23:00 UTC)