From d3055b270ed1498a654a3a04c32dc7ffb266a7c8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Rohan Kumar Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2021 10:57:04 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] Add note on free calls increasing adoption Thanks to @ufrafecy@lemmy.ml for pointing that out. --- content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.gmi | 2 +- content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md | 2 +- 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.gmi b/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.gmi index 56a7d19..46d00b5 100644 --- a/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.gmi +++ b/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.gmi @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ With the meta-explanation out of the way, let us begin. ## WhatsApp's 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 (see the following link), and combining an easy-to-learn UI with successful marketing. It then expanded to include features such as voice and video calls. +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 (see the following link), 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 other countries. => https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instant_messaging_protocols Comparison of instant messaging protocols (Wikipedia) diff --git a/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md b/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md index c3a6c36..0454e37 100644 --- a/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md +++ b/content/posts/whatsapp-and-the-domestication-of-users.md @@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ With the meta-explanation out of the way, let us begin. WhatsApp's 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 voice and video calls. +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 other countries. 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.