WhatsApp update

[NedFlanders]

It is social media. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook.

Originally, it was a messaging platform, and that's all it was.

It is a good argument that Facebook will try to turn things it owns into social media - although something like Oculus isn't social media at all (although I don't think anyone has quite figured out exactly what it is yet.)

Which should surprise exactly no one at all.

If an application is free then you are the product being sold.

Do people expect that Meta is maintaining hundreds of millions of dollars of servers simply so missionaries can communicate for free in third world countries? To write the sentence is to realize how ridiculous the notion is.

Pay for cell service and use SMS or email. That is the alternative to free apps.

You are 100% correct Ken.

Hence my astonishment learning that CA’s use these apps…

[Josh]

Do people expect that Meta is maintaining hundreds of millions of dollars of servers simply so missionaries can communicate for free in third world countries? To write the sentence is to realize how ridiculous the notion is.

Pay for cell service and use SMS or email. That is the alternative to free apps.

People actually do. They have little understanding of how multi-billion dollar products are available to them for free. They just assume this is how things work, kind of like how using you car stereo is "free" or using your kitchen cabinets is "free". They figured they paid for their phone, etc. and assume all these apps just somehow are included in that. That's how the average person thinks.

[Josh]

You are 100% correct Ken.

Hence my astonishment learning that CA’s use these apps…

As is typical, the camel sticks his nose in the tent through two prongs (or two nostrils, one could say):

#1, the need for "business use", which seems to be an excuse for all manner of things.

#2, the need for something that "helps missions" (as if CA mission programmes are all that effective anyway).

[Szdfan]

What's the objection to WhatsApp?

Access to things that couldn’t easily be filtered or turned off. Such as Netflix’s or pornography.
That and it was steadily becoming more social like Facebook.

How does someone access Netflix with WhatsApp? Isn't it just for messaging and phone calls?

[RZehr]

Originally, it was a messaging platform, and that's all it was.

It is a good argument that Facebook will try to turn things it owns into social media - although something like Oculus isn't social media at all (although I don't think anyone has quite figured out exactly what it is yet.)

Which should surprise exactly no one at all.

If an application is free then you are the product being sold.

Do people expect that Meta is maintaining hundreds of millions of dollars of servers simply so missionaries can communicate for free in third world countries? To write the sentence is to realize how ridiculous the notion is.

Pay for cell service and use SMS or email. That is the alternative to free apps.

You are 100% correct Ken.

Hence my astonishment learning that CA’s use these apps…

Free is pretty hard to turn down.

[Ken]

What's the objection to WhatsApp?

Access to things that couldn’t easily be filtered or turned off. Such as Netflix’s or pornography.
That and it was steadily becoming more social like Facebook.

How does someone access Netflix with WhatsApp? Isn't it just for messaging and phone calls?

I don’t get what Netflix has to do with WhatsApp either.

Anyone with an internet connection can access Netflix simply by going to Netflix.com. You can do it with any browser or a phone app. But of course you need to pay for a Netflix account to view anything.

You can send someone a video link (YouTube, Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc.) through WhatsApp and you can click on it and play it from within WhatsApp just like you can with a YouTube link sent through instant messaging.

I guess that allows people who have locked their phones down with filters to get into Netflix through the back door. But it seems like a pointless exercise. If you don’t want to watch Netflix, don’t watch it.

[Soloist]

What's the objection to WhatsApp?

Access to things that couldn’t easily be filtered or turned off. Such as Netflix’s or pornography.
That and it was steadily becoming more social like Facebook.

How does someone access Netflix with WhatsApp? Isn't it just for messaging and phone calls?

I don’t have the latest update, it’s the channels and that is what I was told.

[Szdfan]

Access to things that couldn’t easily be filtered or turned off. Such as Netflix’s or pornography.
That and it was steadily becoming more social like Facebook.

How does someone access Netflix with WhatsApp? Isn't it just for messaging and phone calls?

I don’t have the latest update, it’s the channels and that is what I was told.

I have WhatsApp primarily to call and text with my Dad in Russia.

So I checked out Channels and honestly, I'm a bit confused by it. While Channels is definitely a step towards making WhatsApp more like social media, it lacks the interactivity of social media. Channels are a one-way stream in which a content creator can send out text, video and pictures While it's possible to "react" to these posts, it's not possible to comment on these posts.

Honestly, I find it kinda lame. I guess it's another way to send out content in cases where other social media is not available.

It is possible on IOS devices to share Netflix through WhatsApp. It's also apparently possible to watch Netflix trailers. I'm not sure if it's possible to selext Netflix content through WhatsApp.

[Soloist]

So I checked out Channels and honestly, I'm a bit confused by it. While Channels is definitely a step towards making WhatsApp more like social media, it lacks the interactivity of social media. Channels are a one-way stream in which a content creator can send out text, video and pictures While it's possible to "react" to these posts, it's not possible to comment on these posts.

Honestly, I find it kinda lame. I guess it's another way to send out content in cases where other social media is not available.

It is possible on IOS devices to share Netflix through WhatsApp. It's also apparently possible to watch Netflix trailers. I'm not sure if it's possible to selext Netflix content through WhatsApp.

I know with discord you can make watch parties, it Somehow wouldn’t surprise me if down the road they have built in streaming services to some popular apps.
It sounds like a mini twitter in some ways.

[mike]

How does someone access Netflix with WhatsApp? Isn't it just for messaging and phone calls?

I don’t have the latest update, it’s the channels and that is what I was told.

I have WhatsApp primarily to call and text with my Dad in Russia.

So I checked out Channels and honestly, I'm a bit confused by it. While Channels is definitely a step towards making WhatsApp more like social media, it lacks the interactivity of social media. Channels are a one-way stream in which a content creator can send out text, video and pictures While it's possible to "react" to these posts, it's not possible to comment on these posts.

Honestly, I find it kinda lame. I guess it's another way to send out content in cases where other social media is not available.

It is possible on IOS devices to share Netflix through WhatsApp. It's also apparently possible to watch Netflix trailers. I'm not sure if it's possible to selext Netflix content through WhatsApp.

It looks like an attempt by Whatsapp to replicate Telegram's channels feature. And since anybody can create channels on Telegram, there's literally anything available. The biggest problem for plain Anabaptists who want to regulate what they and their children can access on the Internet is the porn channels, and so Telegram is basically not used in many churches. Whatsapp has been working fine, but I've always wondered how a free app with no obvious source of monetization will continue as is. Plain churches, mine included, are now looking at using other messaging systems. There are no explicit rules in my church about which system you have to use or not use, but there's common sense. I hear folks are looking at Signal, and of course there's CloudVeil which is Telegram-based but without access to Channels.