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content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md
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@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ With the meta-explanation out of the way, let us begin.
Whats­App's rise {#whatsapps-rise}
---------------
For those unfamiliar, WhatsApp is a tool that makes it convenient and easy to help Facebook further its core mission: the optimization and auctioning of human behavior (colloquially known as "targeted advertising"). It originally persuaded people to consent to this by allowing them to send text to each other over the Internet, something that was [already possible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instant_messaging_protocols), and combining an easy-to-learn UI with successful marketing. It then expanded to include features such as free voice and video calls. Free calls helped it grow to become the de-facto communication platform many regions. I'm stunned at its ubiquity every time I visit my extended family in India; I'm frequently greeted by looks of confusion when I remind them that I don't use WhatsApp.
For those unfamiliar, WhatsApp is a tool that makes it convenient and easy to help Facebook further its core mission: the optimization and auctioning of human behavior (colloquially known as "targeted advertising"). It originally persuaded people to consent to this by allowing them to send text to each other over the Internet, something that was [already possible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instant_messaging_protocols), and combining an easy-to-learn UI with successful marketing. It then expanded to include features such as free voice and video calls. Free calls helped it grow to become the de-facto communication platform in many regions. I'm stunned at its ubiquity every time I visit my extended family in India; I'm frequently greeted by looks of confusion when I remind them that I don't use WhatsApp.
Having its own proprietary chat system incompatible with other clients allowed WhatsApp to build a [network effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_effect): WhatsApp's existing users were held captive by the fact that leaving WhatsApp meant losing the ability to communicate with WhatsApp users. People switching from WhatsApp must convince all their friends to switch, too; this includes less technically inclined friends who had a hard time learning WhatsApp in the first place.