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[Kikarian]

You're late DC there's already a thread.

 

[Accoun]

What app is Whatsapp?

Spoiler

Probably sounds lame

 

[dLMN8R]

(dp)

 

[freshair]

The only thing I don't like about Whatsapp is that it doesn't allow you to use it on multiple devices concurrently and it doesn't have a web interface. But other than that, it's very useful for talking to oversears friends or when traveling internationally.

 

[JoJoShabadoo]

Isn't whatsapp just a chat program? What makes it better than texting/worth 16 billion? Explain this to me youngins.

First 12 months free. 1 dollar for the next 12 months. Allows unlimited texting. Can send pictures and videos. Can record audios. Create group chats. Etc.

 

[-Deadpool-]

Goddammit!

Time to find an alternative.

 

[GasProblem]

Eh, hope they don't mess it up. WhatsApp completely replaced texting for me. And the people that never heard of WhatsApp, do you have a smartphone? I personally don't know anyone with a smartphone that doesn't use WhatsApp...

Edit: I forgot I already posted in this thread, heh. Time to go to bed...

 

[jakncoke]

No cost to text anyone worldwide.

Like kik?

 

[dc89]

You're late DC there's already a thread.

Wes pls. Stop these lies from spreading.

 

[maquiladora]

Shayan Sanyal ‏@shay_I_am

Fb buying whatsapp for 16B$ comes down to half a billion per employee... Whoa.

lol

 

[Kraftwerk]

Jesus Christ that is a LOT of fucking money.

 

[Retrocide]

Does WhatsApp generate any revenue? Isn't the danger that people will switch to a different app if too many ads muck up the place.

 

[smurfx]

Oh damn, Facebook is taking over everything I use. :-(

facebook buying neogaf next? npd!?

 

[snack]

DAMNNN

 

[Rocket Scientist]

They could have send few astronauts on the orbit around Mars and back for that money... but hey, they spent it on a random instant messenger that currently has 3x less users that Skype had 1 year before it was purchased by MS.

People didn't use Skype on a daily basis, dozens of times a day.

 

[freshair]

Eh, hope they don't mess it up. WhatsApp completely replaced texting for me. And the people that never heard of WhatsApp, do you have a smartphone? I personally don't know anyone with a smartphone that doesn't use WhatsApp...

More popular outside of the USA. Most of the American folks just rely on texting/iMessage and have no need for an alternative messaging service, so not really surprising that casual folks haven't heard of it.

 

[Meier]

$16b? Holy shit! Amazing that they paid so little for Instagram.

I've never actually met anyone in person who uses WhatsApp -- iMessage really works fine for me. I would have thought SnapChat would be bought first but maybe it's opposite of WhatsApp in that it's huge in the US but small elsewhere? I dunno, I don't use either personally.

 

[ampere]

Wow. WhatsApp is huge in non-US countries. It might be big in the US too, but the only people I know that use it are recent immigrants.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

My continued use of Google Hangouts is further cemented.

 

[Lkr]

i've never used whatsapp. i don't do any international texting. i don't use 10k texts/month anymore due to iMessage either. do any US carriers even have smartphone plans without unlimited texting at this point? I don't know anyone with a smartphone that uses whatsapp. Do you have a username or is it linked to your phone number? I wouldn't know, no one I know uses it

 

[Diprosalic]

if they ever force a login with a facebook account, I'm outta there.

 

[Accoun]

And the people that never heard of WhatsApp, do you have a smartphone? I personally don't know anyone with a smartphone that doesn't use WhatsApp...

I have a smartphone. But never heard of any of my friends using it (unless they just never mentioned it), including my international friends.

 

[massoluk]

Whatsapp used to be the crossplatform chat apps of choices among my friends and family. But then LINE has taken over in Asia, I have no choice but to switch.

 

[Shalashaska]

.

David Pierce ‏@piercedavid 7m
WhatsApp's volume is "approaching the entire global telecom SMS volume," which makes $16 billion suddenly seem totally reasonable

 

[Marty Chinn]

My continued use of Google Hangouts is further cemented.

If only Google Hangouts would merge SMS and Hangouts together, it would be perfect.

 

[Junior Mint]

16 billion......... how?

 

[BikoBiko]

Jesus. Facebook taking over every social network/app to stay relevant confirmed. Huge userbase if Whatsapp and FB Messenger are integrated.

 

[malfcn]

That's a lot of coin. Never heard of it.

 

[spons]

Holy shit. _Everybody_ I know uses it. Including myself. I guess Facebook finally gets my phone number though, heh.

I can't imagine anyone in Europe with a smartphone not having heard about it. Seems to be different over in the States? Why? It's free for a long time.

 

[outunderthestars]

Eh, hope they don't mess it up. WhatsApp completely replaced texting for me. And the people that never heard of WhatsApp, do you have a smartphone? I personally don't know anyone with a smartphone that doesn't use WhatsApp...

Edit: I forgot I already posted in this thread, heh. Time to go to bed...

I have owned five smart phones and this is literally the first time I have heard of the app.

 

[inky]

hopefully they don't fuck it up. Pretty much all I sue my phone for (communication-wise, obv) nowadays.

 

[fuenf]

I like this. It's a great buy for Facebook and having them buy WhatsApp is far better than having Google do it.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

If only Google Hangouts would merge SMS and Hangouts together, it would be perfect.

It's coming, surely...

 

[SRG01]

It's incredibly popular in Asia and is starting to pick up steam in other parts of the world. Granted, there are other competing platforms, but Whatsapp is definitely a solid one.

These platforms may single-handedly kill off the SMS/MMS revenues of carriers in the near future.

 

[GK86]

16 fucking billion. Wow.

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

if they ever force a login with a facebook account, I'm outta there.

Oh god

Spoiler

Make it stop

 

[SimleuqiR]

Okay?

I'm going to try to make myself clear:

First, I'm not the only here that will probably jump ship and stop using Whatsapp. Just saying.

Second, this is the ART bug I was talking about: http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/android/28000002

Oddly enough, I have not missed using the app. People still rather text me, and the few that don't like to send me messages via Hangouts or Twitter.

 

[Diprosalic]

Is WhatsApp even that popular?

of my 300 mobile contacts, 298 use whatsapp, the two others are my grandmas.
it's huge here (europe), people buy smartphones just because nobody writes SMS anymore and they get left out of the discussions.

 

[gofreak]

$16bn?

Holy crap.

I thought there was a missing decimal at first or something.

 

[Stitch]

Everyone should use LINE

 

[GWX]

Whatsapp is a fucking fever here in Brazil. I never used it, really (can't see the appeal), but my close friends use it a lot, and they all claim to hate Facebook :lol.

 

[Blablurn]

Damn, what a price.

 

[Santiako]

I have owned five smart phones and this is literally the first time I have heard of the app.

I literally don't know anyone with a smartphone that does not use Whatsapp.

 

[Lkr]

Holy shit. _Everybody_ I know uses it. Including myself. I guess Facebook finally gets my phone number though, heh.

I can't imagine anyone in Europe with a smartphone not having heard about it. Seems to be different over in the States? Why? It's free for a long time.

does it cost money to send SMS to other European countries? If so, I could understand the popularity. SMS is pretty much included on every US plan at this point making the app useless

 

[Femmeworth]

Facebook putting that IPO money to use.

 

[Marty Chinn]

It's coming, surely...

I dunno, Google often comes up short when it comes to a polished user experience. I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Milchjon]

Damn, what a price.

About 10% of Facebook's current market capitalization, I think.

 

[Krelian]

Weird how it seems basically unknown in the US. Are you guys really just texting/using iMessage? The former is too basic, has no groups, no file transfers, not to mention that it often costs extra (here in Europe at least) and the latter is iPhone only. What about Android folks, or Windows Phone?

*Anyone actively using the service which you don't know if they are or aren't.

If you install the app you can immediately see who does and doesn't use it.

 

[.GqueB.]

400 million active users and growing substantially. WhatsApp's volume is "approaching the entire global telecom SMS volume," which makes $16 billion pretty reasonable.

Ah I see. Explains the 16 billion aspect of this.

No cost to text anyone worldwide.

I don't see that being the reason most people use it though. Snapchat I get because it's a good way to send nudes. But this sounds like AIM to me. Now I'm gonna go download it. This thread was an ad.

*Anyone actively using the service which you don't know if they are or aren't.

That was my next question.

 

[Buddha Beam]

I've been ignoring facebook's attempts at getting my phone number for literally years.

I guess that's all over now.