Why Is WhatsApp So Popular?
If you live in the US, you may not know it, but WhatsApp is insanely popular in many other countries. This has always intrigued me. Why use WhatsApp when you can just send a text message? I haven't ever examined that question in depth, but it's been in the back of my mind for a while. Since WhatsApp is one of our tools this week in class, I figured this would be an opportune moment to find out more.
To start my research, I turned to Google. (I always start with Google first.) This led me to a Reddit post where someone was asking the same question. The answers were varied and thoughtful. Here are some of the reasons I found most compelling from the Reddit thread:
Why is Whatsapp so insanely popular among everyone outside of North America?
byu/jnota13 inwhatsapp
1. People use WhatsApp to avoid international roaming charges since WhatsApp sends messages over the Internet.
2. Cell phone plans in many countries still charge per-SMS fees, so using WhatsApp helps people avoid them.
3. Unlike in the US, in many other countries there is more of a balance in iPhone versus Android users, so iMessage isn't as ubiquitous as in the US.
4. WhatsApp has first mover advantage. According to one Reddit user, WhatsApp was the first cross-platform messaging app and therefore captured a lot of market share.
The popularity of WhatsApp is still a bit mystifying to me, but Reddit helped clarify the issue a bit.
Another reason WhatsApp is popular is because of their privacy. They use "end to end encryption" which just means that only you and the person you are messaging has access to anything and everything you send. Not even WhatsApp has access to the content. Randomly, I know tons of people who work cruise lines use WhatsApp because of point 1 that you made.
ReplyDeleteGood point! I can understand why privacy would be a big concern.
DeleteThank you for this post! As someone who moved to the US from Korea, the reasons you mentioned all make sense to me. I use WhatsApp to talk with my friends who are not in the same country as me. Additionally, many of my friends and family have Android phones, so iMessaging them isn't possible.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insight! I started to use WhatsApp when my sister moved to Switzerland, so I can see how useful it is to keep in touch with friends and family in other countries.
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