Whoa, just saw a TV commercial for WhatsApp. I've never seen it advertised before.
Oh I've seen it advertised in India for years. This was the first time I actually saw a TV spot on network primetime in the United States for WhatsApp. And sold on one feature alone - e2e encryption making it safer than texts.
That's a new positioning.
That's a new positioning.
https://twitter.com/rajandesai/status/1497061282218151937?t=hoMSuePGDsv3eFrfAYHV-w&s=19
Remember that WhatsApp is NOT the default messaging service in the US, like it is in much of the world. The top services used for it are FB messenger & Snapchat. And of course, old text messages, which remain way more popular in US than in the rest of the world.
Brand new network TV ad campaigns are very expensive and generally signal a big strategic shift. This signals that the slowdown of Facebook growth in the US market is being felt in Facebook messenger too, so Meta is pushing WhatsApp for those who have quit Facebook in the US.
The company has run TV ad campaigns in the US for its other products for years, especially Oculus, and even Facebook itself. And Facebook messenger.
This is, in my memory, the first US ad campaign specifically for WhatsApp. And all built on security of all things lol.
This is, in my memory, the first US ad campaign specifically for WhatsApp. And all built on security of all things lol.
Obviously if security and privacy is your concern, Signal is way better than WhatsApp. So Meta seems to be betting on the ad campaign working on low tech knowledge consumers. Which kinda is the whole philosophy of Zuck's anyway. He can fool most of the people most of the time.
True true true
https://twitter.com/anindya_again/status/1497086064497885184?t=XblHr1ruy-CuipBoqSB2kQ&s=19
The bottomline is "Signal is securest". The positioning and competitive advantage that WhatsApp is selling with these new ads is security. And nothing currently is as secure as Signal. Not cos Signal's tech per se but its institutional structure.
https://twitter.com/WordyWeasel/status/1497085578613080067?t=eBbI2GzrM_0NVPQElXASrQ&s=19
Many don't get this. What makes a service "secure" isn't the tech.
Tech for highest security & privacy is easy to implement if you want to.
The threat to security/privacy is the incentive structure that lets people make money by actively undermining security/privacy.
Tech for highest security & privacy is easy to implement if you want to.
The threat to security/privacy is the incentive structure that lets people make money by actively undermining security/privacy.
What makes Signal the most secure isn't some magical encryption algorithm.
What makes Signal the most secure is the Signal Foundation and its institutional structure.
By design, there is no way for anyone running Signal to make any money from reading your Signal chats.
What makes Signal the most secure is the Signal Foundation and its institutional structure.
By design, there is no way for anyone running Signal to make any money from reading your Signal chats.
WhatsApp can have the most securest algorithms up the wazoo.
But WhatsApp is still owned by Meta Zuck, who wants to make billions.
Signal is so disinterested in profit that it is actually 501c3! And their business practices are aggressively non-profit.
We need more such orgs.
But WhatsApp is still owned by Meta Zuck, who wants to make billions.
Signal is so disinterested in profit that it is actually 501c3! And their business practices are aggressively non-profit.
We need more such orgs.
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