Post #2306230

2026-03-23 21:19 UTC

WhatsApp has significant market dominance in Europe, to the point that only one or two people I know who live on that continent don't use it. If you give someone your phone number in Europe, they will almost certainly send you a WhatsApp message, not an SMS. It's not a *need* in the sense that you'll die without it, but not having it adds significant friction to social relationships.

Replies (2)

@zqps@sh.itjust.works 2026-03-24 14:11

At least Europe rarely uses WhatsApp for business purposes. It's worse in Asia and South America where WhatsApp and Facebook literally are the internet, including the enterprise space. And the reason it's less the default in the US isn't because people are so forward-thinking to use signal, but iOS being so uniquitous that people use iMessage. People everywhere are just somewhat lazy and just don't know better.

Open ##2306232
@technomage@lemmy.ca 2026-03-23 21:32

That's... Wow! Here, people prefer to use non-SMS options for messaging too, but if you give someone a phone number it's pretty much assumed you're getting an SMS unless they ask if you have WhatsApp, signal, or whatever else. That said, using Messenger is still pretty common here, as much as I'd wish it would die off. It is, slowly, but it needs to be quicker lol

Open ##2306233