> Because as much as I hate that Facebook bought them, they're part of what I would call "critical social infrastructure."
... is it ? I only got whatsapp last year and most of the people I know from real life aren't on it. In a big french city with a 50 thousand-students university.
Obviously this depends on your exact circumstances. You might be whole unaffected or literally everyone you know might use it. Either way, you depend on other people.
This sucks, by the way. No doubt about that. But I doubt that individuals can do anything in that regard.
Probably regulation. Or a benevolent tech company that decides to push some sort of open messenger protocol (with good enough properties) that anyone can join and where anyone can make clients for. You know, kinda like e-mail.
For some people it is yes. It varies by region though. Since not everyone is in a big French city with a fifty-thousand-student university, different messaging applications are popular in different areas.
Back in the day, all the people in the US I knew used AOL Instant Messenger, but if I wanted to talk to anyone in the UK I had to use MSN Messenger. A more modern example: If you have family in China, you have to use WeChat.
... is it ? I only got whatsapp last year and most of the people I know from real life aren't on it. In a big french city with a 50 thousand-students university.