Why I don’t use WhatsApp (and don’t think you should either)

I'll bet you use WhatsApp. I don't — I'll tell you why, and am going to challenge you to stop. Founded in 2009 and sold five years later to Facebook (now Meta) for over $19bn, it has become the de facto messaging app. Its ubiquity makes it hugely convenient — practically everyone uses WhatsApp, and so its network effects allow it to maintain and grow its huge user base. I however believe this is a dark pattern that has potentially hugely harmful impacts, and needs to be broken.

I don't believe that Meta paid all that money just so you can enjoy a free messaging service. When he dropped out of Harvard, Facebook founder (now Meta CEO) Mark Zuckerberg was studying psychology as well as computer science. This is highly relevant since an understanding of human psychology has always underpinned Meta's operating model.

Meta seeks to maximize user engagement (how much time you spend on the app) across its platforms (Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram). Doing this allows it to sell more ad space to its real customers (you are the product here), thereby increasing revenue. Sheryl Sandberg was instrumental in developing this ad monetisation strategy whilst at Google, and she very successfully deployed it during every time as Facebook COO from 2008 until 2022. The details differ across the platforms (double blue ticks, like/react buttons, comments) but the common underlying objective is to give you that dopamine hit and keep you coming back for more (possibly most harmful on Facebook, since fostering discord there actually helps the company — users are more likely to respond to someone with whom they disagree).

Ah, I hear you say, but my communications are “end-to-end encrypted” — so the company really isn't learning that much about me. Hmm, well no. You see, the valuable information to companies like Meta lies in the “metadata” rather than the content of the messages themselves (the clue really is in the company name). So, things like who you are messaging, when, from where and how frequently are invaluable data points. Thus Meta's desire to merge the back-end infrastructure for WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. The company knows that the more data it collects about you, the more “complete” will be its profile and the more money it will be able to leverage from its clients.

I don't really care, you continue — I find WhatsApp incredibly useful for keeping in touch with my friends/family/social groups. Fine, that's your prerogative — I however beg to differ. I don't want to willingly relinquish control over the details of my personal life to a company that seeks to monetize them. I have never met Zuckerberg, but I have no desire to use services provided by someone who has previously called his users “dumb fucks” and whom I would trust about as far as I could throw.

So, thanks but no thanks — I would rather use privacy-respecting alternatives like Signal (in what I like to think was an act of contraception, one of the Signal Foundation's co-founders is one of the original brains behind WhatsApp). Coaxing people off WhatsApp might take time, and be initially inconvenient, but isn't it incumbent on you to try to be the change you want in the world rather than stumble unthinkingly into a dystopian future? Your real friends will respect your decision, stay in touch and may very well follow your lead.