Everyone knows the success story of WhatsApp. The app made SMS obsolete and became the most popular messenger among Germans. Since 2009, the app has been an integral part of almost every cell phone. But now WhatsApp shows itself: Nobody needs you anymore. A comment.
WhatsApp suffered a total failure a few days ago. Messenger didn’t work for several hours. What was the reason for the disruption? One does not know. Meta, which used to be called Facebook and bought WhatsApp from its inventors for $19 billion nearly nine years ago, is silent on the cause. But what became clear during the disruption: WhatsApp is no longer needed today. It’s never been easier to turn your back on Messenger.
BYE WHATSAPP
WhatsApp has become the main communication medium for many in recent years. Whether friends or relatives, whether colleagues or even business partners: nothing usually worked without the messenger. Yes, “went”. Because today is different. For some time now, it has been noticed that many are looking for alternatives. The parent company Meta and the parent company Mark are to blame. Because it is now clear to many that Facebook is very liberal with the data of its users. Alternatives such as Signal or Telegram came into focus. Initially there were only a few contacts there, but over the past few years more and more people have installed other messengers on their cell phones.
As a result, many are slowly but surely saying goodbye to WhatsApp. But even if you don’t use Telegram or Signal and continue to rely on WhatsApp as the number 1 messenger: the alternatives are installed on the cell phone. And if the messenger with the white handset on a green background fails for several hours, like a few days ago, you can reach your contacts via the alternatives. Even a complete failure forever wouldn’t hurt anyone like it used to.
MESSENGERS ARE INTERCHANGEABLE
If you have not yet installed a WhatsApp alternative on your smartphone, you can do so within seconds. A few taps on the smartphone display and you’re on Telegram, Signal, Threema or one of the countless other alternatives. If there was a total failure with WhatsApp and the messenger was irretrievably gone, you would ultimately and at the latest then find all your contacts at Signal, Telegram and Co. again. And then the communication is simply continued in another app. WhatsApp used to be unrivalled, but today Messenger is more interchangeable than ever. So: farewell, WhatsApp.
