Support NeoGAF

[dc89]

https://twitter.com/sarahfrier/status/436259548324978688

First Instagram, now WhatsApp. Nothing stops the Facebook train I guess. What next?!

 

[itsgreen]

Breaking: Facebook is buying WhatsApp for $16 billion vrge.co/1jRmD5p

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/19/5427332/facebook-is-buying-whatsapp

 

[shinobi602]

For $16 billion, goddayum.

 

[freshair]

For $16 billion.

G;DAMN

 

[DrFunk]

goddamn

 

[SimleuqiR]

Wow...So glad I got hit with the ART bug and I have not been able to re-install Whatsapp on my phone. Dodge that fucking bullet. Now definitely not re-installing the app.

 

[Nibel]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I don't want them to have my phone number..

 

[Vic]

Ridiculous

 

[RoKKeR]

Damn.

How will this effect the usage of the app for the time being? Not at all I assume?

I actually use it a bunch.

 

[dwuuuu]

Buy Facebook Shares !!!

 

[Paches]

Should I be embarrassed that I have never heard of Whatsapp?

 

[Tucah]

Ugh.

 

[Vyroxis]

What the hell is whatsapp?

 

[Twio]

Is WhatsApp even that popular?

Edit: I guess it is. Never even thought about using it before.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

Wow...So glad I got hit with the ART bug and I have not been able to re-install Whatsapp on my phone. Dodge that fucking bullet. Now definitely not re-installing the app.

Okay?

Is WhatsApp even that popular?

Dude.... 400+ million users.

 

[Carl]

Holy piss that's a lot of money

Suddenly i don't want this on my phone any more

 

[Shalashaska]

Is WhatsApp even that popular?

Absolutely.

edit:
http://guardianlv.com/2013/12/whatsapp-more-popular-than-facebook/

WhatsApp More Popular Than Facebook


Mobile messaging services, like Facebook’s chat and WhatsApp, are becoming more and more popular. They are cheaper to use than sending text messages through the mobile networks. Instead of spending a few cents for each picture message, users are able to use the messaging services free each time, although there are small annual fees attached to some of them. For the first time, however, WhatsApp messaging service has overtaken Facebook and many other services in popularity.

WhatsApp is a cross-platform application, working on tablets and smartphones around the world. It is popular for friends and family to send messages to each other, without using up text messages included in bundles or spending extra to send picture messages (MMS). It works through the data plan included within the contract, and can work out free when using Wi-Fi connections.

Other similar messaging systems include Facebook Chat, Apple’s iMessage and Google Hangouts. Skype is one of the oldest forms of messaging systems and is increasingly popular for people wanting to video chat, but is not as popular as WhatsApp or many others when it comes to mobile messaging.

To find out the most popular messaging system, On Device carried out a survey covering five countries and a range of devices. This did not include those who used the Windows Phones or Blackberry and included the United States, China, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa. 3,759 people were involved in the survey.

In previous years, Facebook was always been the most popular, but WhatsApp has now beaten it. 44 percent of the people surveyed stated that they used the WhatsApp instant messaging service, while just 35 percent used the social media’s app, on a weekly basis. This supports the claim made in April by Jan Koum, chief executive at WhatsApp, that the service carries more messages than Facebook. Other claims include that it is more popular than Twitter and has over 300 million active users each month.

 

[Santiako]

They'll find a way to ruin it I'm sure

 

[Aquamarine]

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

 

[Dicer]

Should I be embarrassed that I have never heard of Whatsapp?

^

 

[Samyy]

Huh so this is why the snapchat dude didn't settle for 3 billion

 

[Moral Panic]

For $16 billion, goddayum.

Wow. That's what you get for waiting for something to become popular before buying.

 

[GasProblem]

Is WhatsApp even that popular?

I don't know anyone with a smartphone that doesn't use it.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Never heard of it, but I had never heard of Instagram before that purchase either.

 

[Cake Boss]

More emoticons pls.

 

[rrs]

Watch as Facebook makes a few undesired changes to it and drives users away.

 

[DrFunk]

16 instagrams

 

[dwuuuu]

Only $4 billion cash plus an extra $12 billion share dilution to exsisting FB shareholders !

 

[dc89]

Is WhatsApp even that popular?

Yep! Use it everyday, speak to the girlfriend and family etc.

 

[dLMN8R]

Should I be embarrassed that I have never heard of Whatsapp?

It's immensely popular:

http://bgr.com/2013/12/19/whatsapp-400-million-monthly-active-users/

But moreso in select countries than all over the world. I don't know anyone in the US who uses it, but tons of friends and coworkers who have family and friends abroad use it pretty much exclusively.

 

[Mastadon]

Ah, shame. I liked WhatsApp.

 

[Archer]

There's always BBM.

Not sure if that should be a helpful piece of advice, or a joke.

 

[Malvingt2]

Noooooooooooo

Wtf... I am upset

 

[massoluk]

Phew, LINE saved.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

I don't know anyone with a smartphone that doesn't use it.

Conversely I know many people with WhatsApp and nobody uses it, but looking at the stats on Wikipedia, it definitely is widely used.

 

[Achtius]

Am i going to be forced to use Facebook messenger?

 

[Marty Chinn]

I don't know anyone with a smartphone that doesn't use it.

It's the other way around for me. I don't know anyone with a smartphone who does use it. Apparently it's widely used in Europe and not as popular in the US is probably the discrepancy.

 

[.GqueB.]

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

 

[dLMN8R]

Watch as Facebook makes a few undesired changes to it and drives users away.

Like Instagram, right?

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/04/facebook-future-growth-drivers.aspx
http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/21/in...bile-devices-rule-over-pcs-for-social-access/

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

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

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Should I be embarrassed that I have never heard of Whatsapp?

No. I never did before this.

 

[maquiladora]

$16 billion?

Google bought Motorola for $12.5 billion....

 

[Shalashaska]

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

No cost to text anyone worldwide.

 

[Archer]

Double post, sorry

 

[BobLoblaw]

I've never even heard of that shit. Guess I'm officially old.

 

[jakncoke]

wtf is whatsapp?

 

[Walshy]

Disappointing.

I hope Snapchat isn't bought by Facebook either.

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

Ah, shame. I liked WhatsApp.

Basically.

Here comes my WhatsApps personal information being shared on Facebook, etc.

 

[DieH@rd]

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.

 

[Bjern Fita]

Amazing app. We have groups set up for family, work mates, even a little one when brother-in-law and his girlfriend lived with us for a bit and we had to work out who's eating at home.

As long as it doesn't change, I'll never leave. But you don't spend that sort of cash to not exploit the user base, be it for ad revenue or data mining. Time will tell.

 

[Marty Chinn]

No cost to text anyone* worldwide.

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