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drcongo · 2023-05-17 14:02:15

I'm in the UK and use iMessage and Signal pretty much exclusively. I don't think I know anyone who actually uses WhatsApp outside of school parent groups.

AJRF | karma 1542 | avg karma 2.5 · | 2022-11-07 01:55:09

But he’s right. There’s no meaningful usage of it outside of America. WhatsApp is king everywhere else.

Anecdotally more people I know use Signal than iMessage, including my non tech savvy sisters and friends. iMessage is too weird and Android too prevalent for anyone to consider using it where I am from (the U.K.)

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colinmhayes | karma 5802 | avg karma 1.83 · | 2022-09-08 16:12:12

I do not know a single person in the USA that does use whatsApp. Everyone is either on iMessage or facebook messenger with a few on signal.

MrScruff | karma 1704 | avg karma 2.98 · | 2024-03-21 20:28:07

In the UK nearly everyone is using Whatsapp (or Signal, Telegram, even FB Messenger - never iMessage) and it's completely fine.

jdlyga | karma 3038 | avg karma 3.83 · | 2021-01-07 20:34:33

There's no convincing because I only know a few people who use WhatsApp. Most everyone uses iMessage or regular SMS, or if not then Facebook Messenger.

ajvs | karma 967 | avg karma 2.49 · | 2022-01-20 01:56:27

Strange, I'm in the UK as well but everyone I know and meet uses WhatsApp. Got a few friends who are on Signal and Telegram also, but those are only in my more technology-oriented circles.

cornstalks | karma 2204 | avg karma 6.24 · | 2022-09-02 08:16:36

Anecdotal, but I don’t know a single person who uses WhatsApp. Everyone I know with an iOS device uses iMessage here in the US.

tomduncalf | karma 8246 | avg karma 7.42 · | 2022-01-20 02:31:56

Likewise, I’m in the UK and everyone I know uses WhatsApp aside from one or two who use iMessage for whatever reason (but I am sure are also on WhatsApp). I’m quite happy with it, it works well, shame it’s a Meta product

thedarkproject | karma 35 | avg karma 2.33 · | 2017-11-29 14:27:50

This might me valid for the US. Anecdotally, where I live (Switzerland/central Europe) almost nobody uses iMessage, and WhatsApp is the big dominator.

leoedin | karma 5807 | avg karma 4.36 · | 2022-01-08 09:00:52

In the UK everyone uses WhatsApp. Certainly everyone I meet my age or older. Maybe the kids are doing something differently, but I doubt it. iPhone usage just hasn't quite got high enough for iMessage to be seamless.

Maybe it's similar in Germany?

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Miner49er | karma 5973 | avg karma 4.24 · | 2023-12-11 14:06:10

There's no way WhatsApp is more widely used in the US then iMessage. Same with Signal and Telegram.

dinkleberg | karma 1838 | avg karma 3.07 · | 2021-01-02 14:45:22+00:00

I’m in the US and the only people I know that use WhatsApp or the like instead of sms/iMessage are those who came from another country and use WhatsApp to talk with their friends and family back home.

Macha | karma 17779 | avg karma 3.43 · | 2022-03-20 09:11:09

Yes. Similarly I hear a lot about iMessage, but in my country (Ireland) no one I know uses it. Whatsapp pretty much supplanted SMS, FB Messenger, Viber (which had a good early start here) and was dominant enough that it basically left iMessage, Signal and Telegram with no way to gain ground here.

entropyie | karma 638 | avg karma 3.67 · | 2022-11-07 05:44:11

Anecdata: Ireland is a wealthy country and plenty of people have iPhones, but WhatsApp is pervasive. Especially for clubs, parent groups, family chats etc... My techie friends mostly use Signal but fallback to WhatsApp. If you contact a stranger to buy a second hand item for example, 99% chance you can WhatsApp them once you have the number. I don't anyone who uses iMessage primarily...

zionic | karma 3522 | avg karma 2.91 · | 2021-10-06 05:37:44

This is so strange, no one in my social circle uses WhatsApp or has ever asked me to use it to talk to them. It’s all iMessage, Snapchat, and a growing group of people on Signal.

mkl95 | karma 6277 | avg karma 4.32 · | 2024-04-03 19:26:43

Whatsapp is kinda ubiquitous in some EMEA countries where stuff like iMessage is virtually unused

qeternity | karma 8257 | avg karma 3.52 · | 2022-01-11 16:32:25

American living in London - I rarely use iMessage. Almost 100% WhatsApp which is a much worse product than iMessage.

The only time I use iMessage is when I speak to friends and family back home.

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Miner49er | karma 5973 | avg karma 4.24 · | 2023-12-11 16:21:48

Interesting, my experience is very different in the US. I know very few people who use WhatsApp or Signal except for when they are outside the US.

laurent123456 | karma 6376 | avg karma 5.53 · | 2022-03-20 08:54:22

It's the opposite in the UK. I can't think of anyone I know who doesn't use WhatsApp.

Closi | karma 8474 | avg karma 3.3 · | 2021-01-06 12:24:26+00:00

In the UK I don't know a person without WhatsApp, pretty much everyone uses it. I don't know a single person who has signal.

If I say to a friend "I'll message you on WhatsApp" they will be like "ok great".

If I say to a friend "I'll message you on Signal" they will be like "What is that? Oh I have to download something? Don't you have WhatsApp? Screw it just send me a text."

So you can't really say "Apart from larger user base why do people use it?". It's like saying "Apart from an inability to breathe, why don't people live underwater?"

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