I’m still a weirdo, but I can’t afford to be a weirdo performatively these days.
So yeah, I can default to Firefox or keep the MS tools I have to use for work on its own contained browser instance, or refuse to use Samsung or Apple phones or whatever other act of technological petty rebellion that I want. But the point I’m making is that cutting the cord on Whatsapp is not practical for daily use in this region. It’s very different in the US and in some other territories, but here it’s definitely not.
It’s far easier to step away from Twitter, Instagram and even Facebook than it is to do the same with Whatsapp here. That’s the big takeaway that I want to convey here.
But you and I don’t seem to be in the same society.
This is a heavily regional issue, which is my entire point. There is no iMessage alternative, we aren’t in a WeChat area, or a Telegram area. Here it’s overwhelmingly Whatsapp.
This is not the same everywhere. Social media is global, but the mix of it is far from universal.
Whatsapp (and Telegram, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, Line… whatever is your local poison) have absorbed texting entirely. Whatsapp drives all texting, a significant chunk of voice calls, a lot of non-work videoconferencing and it serves as a Discord-like group chat platform for a lot of people. That’s how your grandma got radicalized over here, not Facebook proper.
Again, social media is more regional than people think, and it often doesn’t look like Twitter, Instagram or even Facebook.
I’m still a weirdo, but I can’t afford to be a weirdo performatively these days.
So yeah, I can default to Firefox or keep the MS tools I have to use for work on its own contained browser instance, or refuse to use Samsung or Apple phones or whatever other act of technological petty rebellion that I want. But the point I’m making is that cutting the cord on Whatsapp is not practical for daily use in this region. It’s very different in the US and in some other territories, but here it’s definitely not.
It’s far easier to step away from Twitter, Instagram and even Facebook than it is to do the same with Whatsapp here. That’s the big takeaway that I want to convey here.
And I’m conveying your blind spot which seems to be that you can’t function in this society without WhatsApp, which I’ve done since its inception.
And I’m sure I will perform equally well as yourself and others going into the future without it.
But you and I don’t seem to be in the same society.
This is a heavily regional issue, which is my entire point. There is no iMessage alternative, we aren’t in a WeChat area, or a Telegram area. Here it’s overwhelmingly Whatsapp.
This is not the same everywhere. Social media is global, but the mix of it is far from universal.
Messaging others is not “social media”, and you conflating that with using a messaging app is fairly telling.
I don’t intend to nor use iMessage.
But it is, is the point.
Like, here it is.
Whatsapp (and Telegram, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, Line… whatever is your local poison) have absorbed texting entirely. Whatsapp drives all texting, a significant chunk of voice calls, a lot of non-work videoconferencing and it serves as a Discord-like group chat platform for a lot of people. That’s how your grandma got radicalized over here, not Facebook proper.
Again, social media is more regional than people think, and it often doesn’t look like Twitter, Instagram or even Facebook.