this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2025
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Just delete it now. Tell your friends that you're moving because of all the tech oligarchs that just got handed the keys to the government and the economy. Tell your friends that Signal is run by a 501(c)3 nonprofit and actually cares about privacy.
I left Meta products in 2010, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. You deserve not to "be the product" anymore.
This is pretty close to how I did it.
The "one or the other" thing is a fallacy. You have just one, but they're clearly happy installing stuff like WA - so tell them to install another app. It's not like they have to switch.
If they subsequently come to realise the value of Signal in time, all the better.
If installing both helped you, then perhaps that's a good strategy for some. I'm more of a "leave the abusive relationship and cut ties" kind of person, which is why I don't advocate for both at the same time. People often end up going back to the familiar option, rather than trying something new.
As a side note, that's not what a fallacy is. Fallacies are invalid logical statements, and I didn't make any false statements or present any sort of false dichotomy. A false dichotomy would be if I said something like, "You have to choose between Signal or WhatsApp," which is obviously false because you can choose both.
Though again, that's not something I advocate on purpose, due to the aforementioned issue I have with "being the product," and it is not fallacious or deceptive to exclude the suggestion of installing both in light of that additional premise.
I think you've misunderstood few things in my reply. I'll clarify...
First, I meant the person with multiple IM clients will be the one who "doesn't see the problem" with WhatsApp (or whatever). The person moving to Signal just has Signal.
Second, I wasn't saying you used a fallacy. I was pointing out that when someone thinks of using (or are recommended to use) another IM client, they almost always think they have to uninstall what they're currently using. (It is more accurate to call it a false dichotomy.) It's a mystery to me why people think this way about IM clients, as many of us have multiple browsers installed, for example.
Third, my reply was about those you communicate with online, not you. Nothing in my reply was directed at you. 😊
Ah, I gotcha. Yeah, I dunno why people think that way. In that case, I do agree that it's fallacious thinking.
People can be really silly when it comes to technology.
Unfortunately this doesn't actually work. Even if people do try Signal, they see they only have one or two contacts, and they go back to WhatsApp.
I got my entire Snapchat gc (15 people) and a little more to switch. The key isn't dropping an announcement of "hey I'm moving", you talk to each person individually; starting with the most likely to switch. Then go up the line, share who you've already got to join if you're met with resistance. if you save the most difficult people for last, telling them almost everyone else is already there is usually enough.
If someone along the way has refused to move for the time being, you can revisit them later after you've got more people to move. I didn't 100% nail my judgement of who would and who wouldn't, but I was able to go back and revisit those who didn't.
If you can, reach out to people in person; I got a few this way. You have to express that you will not be accessible otherwise and will only be present on signal moving forward. It helps if you have a reputation for following through :3
Likely not everyone is going to move over. I've accepted that there's some people I probably won't end up talking to ever again. I've got my main group over, the ones that actually respect that I want more security (and less clown-show shit that Snapchat has)
Human nature wants to stay put, you have to have some strategy or it won't work.
Also a lot of people are pissed at Meta for lobbying for TikTok's ban. Use that with the relevant people, if applicable
And you should call them whiny, scared little babies for doing so. But I digress.
Other people have succeeded in getting friend/family groups to switch to better E2EE options, so I believe that most people who say it can't be done haven't actually tried.
I've tried extensively. For years. I was a regular Signal donor, too.
I don't know where you're from, but in much of the world, asking someone to use something other than WhatsApp is like saying "stop using email", it's an extremely difficult sell.
So they either keep Signal around and be able to talk to you, or they don't. They don't need to stop using WA to use Signal.
If they don't want to do that, it'd mean that you would have to keep WA around for the one or two contacts you have there (and only there), which is somewhat comparable, actually, if you disregard the "but meta is short for metastasis, actually" bit.
Which one of the two it ends up being is between you and your contacts.