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?

  • SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml
    0·
    10 days ago

    Whatsapp: Meta

    Signal: CIA

    ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

    It doesn’t matter, tho. After decades of psyops, false flag terror, and both state and para state corruption, Italy became the most loyal vassal state in Europe for the US. The data you could protect from them are already in their hands.

  • en1gma@lemmy.mlDeutsch
    0·
    10 days ago

    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.

    • orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts
      0·
      10 days ago

      In some countries, WhatsApp is the main tool of communication. When I visited Chile years ago, companies had WhatsApp logos on all of their ads, billboards and storefronts. So I get why it’s so difficult to ditch it in those places.

      • en1gma@lemmy.mlDeutsch
        0·
        10 days ago

        If no one starts the change, nothing ever will change. Someone has to go through the hassle so others can follow.

  • Atomo@lemmy.world
    0·
    10 days ago

    OR carry on using WhatsApp on Beeper for now. https://www.beeper.com/ You can start using Signal and WhatsApp at the same time using Beeper, and start a slower transition by convincing your contacts to do the same.

  • Zerush@lemmy.ml
    0·
    10 days ago

    I don’t even use an chat app in my Phone, when i want to communicate with my family or friends, I’do it in the old school methode with a call or an SMS/MMS, alternatively in a bar or at home with some beers, same as before phones without cable. I don’t need more than this.

    • Zak@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 days ago

      Signal, and (probably) Whatsapp have end-to-end encryption. It’s better to feed less information into mass surveillance systems when you can.

      • comrade | 🇵🇸@lemmy.ml
        0·
        9 days ago

        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.

  • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
    0·
    10 days ago

    They say it’s not an issue for them,

    So you think your family and friends are liars and shouldn’t be trusted?

  • OnyxRex@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    0·
    10 days ago

    over here in America, we had a friend in our group that outright refused to switch to signal. Not to make it seem like it’s the only factor, but that friend is no longer around, and we all use Signal.

    • pucker4676@lemmy.ml
      0·
      10 days ago

      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.

      • Pika@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        0·
        10 days ago

        It sounds innovative, but at a subscription I don’t know about that one, chief.

        Any benefit you gain in being able to use a phone number is going to be thrown out because I don’t think anyone’s going to pay for a messaging client.

  • SharkAttak@kbin.melroy.org
    0·
    10 days ago

    It’s not like you cut their phone wires, should they need it for something they can just use it (as sometimes it’s unavoidable). But this way important and private stuff will remain as such, we don’t want Zuckerbot to get a hold of grandma’s secret recipe, do we?

  • sudoer777@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    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.

  • Pika@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    10 days ago

    I gave up on signal just because when I swapped none of my friends did, so therefore, there’s no reason for me to use it because I’m just partying by myself.

    Being said if you got people to actually go with you then I wouldn’t feel bad about it because obviously they wouldn’t have swapped if they didn’t want to.