Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

But your friend groups would probably be able to migrate to Signal/Discord/Hangouts/etc quite quickly if WhatsApp were to disappear, no? WhatsApp has the network effect on its side by way of existing, but that could change quickly if given a push.


Sure. But you might not get everyone back - you'd have to have an alternate method of talking to the folks to get them to switch and meet up in the same place. You'd have this if the service just slowly died (like landlines), but not if something breaks instantly - forever. I'm guessing we've all had this when games died (especially old text-based MMORPG's, for example. So many people gone).


At least with WhatsApp you do have the contact's phone number, so you can reach them via SMS if necessary.


Do you have to open WhatsApp and connect to the servers to access the number? (Honest question here, I've never used it)


You have to open the app, but you can see phone numbers in airplane mode.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: