Can Telegram or Signal displace WhatsApp as the main application for instant messaging and voice calls over the Internet in the world? That is the question that many analysts and experts ask themselves, however, the truth of the case is that the download of its competitors continues to rise, already doubling that of the Facebook service.
Although WhatsApp dominates with almost two billion users, it is seeing the resurgence of two potential competitors who promise something that has now been questioned in the Facebook system, such as privacy in their communications.
The daily download of Telegram and Signal already reaches two million, while those of WhatsApp does not reach 900 thousand, according to information from the specialized consultancy AirNow Data. Telegram is an app of Russian origin that, as a result of this controversy, has registered 25 million downloads in recent days. For its part, Signal, which despite being the oldest app of all was little known until recently, was developed by a former hacker who is now a computer security consultant.
The debacle
The WhatsApp debacle began this year with an announcement to change its privacy policies to share information from commercial accounts with Facebook, which was not taken in a good way among users, experts, and celebrities who began to promote the “I jump to other instant messaging platforms” campaign.
This forced Mark Zuckerberg’s company to reverse the decision and postpone it until May 15th to better communicate the changes that are being implemented, ensuring that the privacy of personal conversations will be maintained as before. We will only have to wait and see if the phenomenon remains constant over time until May 15th or if Facebook decides to permanently reverse the change in its privacy policies.
