That may be straightforwardly true for another service — Maps, Email, etc. — but... | Hacker News

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		another-dave on Feb 19, 2021 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite... That may be straightforwardly true for another service — Maps, Email, etc. — but the draw of a messaging platform is its network effect. "All the freeloaders" is half the reason that WhatsApp is popular: no matter who you want to contact, they likely had a WhatsApp account — from your elderly mother to your college friends to the B&B that you're going to stay at abroad. If it goes from "everyone I know is on WhatsApp" to "1 in 20 people I know are on WhatsApp" maybe I'm less inclined to continue to fork over $20.

tg180 on Feb 19, 2021 [–]

> If it goes from "everyone I know is on WhatsApp" to "1 in 20 people I know are on WhatsApp" maybe I'm less inclined to continue to fork over $20.

Let’s be real, I don’t think this is a realistic ratio of users lost. They made a cost benefits analysis and are going on with the plan.

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