whatsapp is ruined
first of all, as someone from the caribbean, i’ve literally been using whatsapp my entire life
my immediate family use whatsapp. my distant relatives use whatsapp. every person i know in my country use whatsapp. it’s been embedded in everyday life here since it became established
and it’s not just the caribbean
latin america
africa
south asia, especially india
the middle east
southeast asia
huge parts of europe, including russia, poland, ukraine, spain, italy, portugal, france, etc.
huge parts of the world have been using whatsapp consistently for years
and now that it’s become increasingly established in wealthier markets like the u.s., canada, the uk and australia, we’re seeing it become more and more commercialized
and yes, i’m complaining
i’m not blaming people in these countries for using whatsapp. obviously not
i’m talking about the companies behind these platforms seeing another huge commercial opportunity and deciding they can monetize another part of our lives
because whatsapp used to be different
i remember when status became a thing in 2017 and i was genuinely scared it was going to turn into snapchat
but then it actually became one of my favourite features because it was still interpersonal
you’re literally watching the statuses of your actual contacts
your family
your friends
people you actually know
whatsapp isn’t instagram to me
it’s my contacts
it’s where i talk to my family and friends
and now i’m scrolling through statuses of people i actually know and care about and i’m seeing ads in between them
i hate it
i’ve literally always been the person who refuses to update apps until i’m forced to because every update feels like a downgrade
every app keeps adding the same features, the same layouts, the same everything until they all start feeling identical
if i didn’t see the name of the app before opening it, sometimes i genuinely wouldn’t know which app i was on
and that’s what bothers me about this too
whatsapp had its own identity
it was a messaging app that felt personal
you weren’t being constantly sold something
you opened it, talked to your people, checked your contacts’ statuses and left
now it’s becoming like every other platform
i’d been fighting the updates for as long as i could, but they finally forced me to update and now i’m actually experiencing this shit myself
so yes, i’m going to complain
because i’m tired of ads
i’m so fucking tired of everything becoming another opportunity to sell us something
whatsapp was one of the few apps that still felt peaceful
and now they’ve ruined it