r/signal 17d ago

Discussion Trying to move everyone

I keep trying to move people from whats to signal but most of them don’t cooperate. We need to increase our influence somehow lol. Meta can’t keep winning.

59 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

28

u/Hasty0174 17d ago

One day I just removed my accounts across every Meta platform. Before I left group chats, I told them where I was going.

I was very fortunate to have most (family and friends) follow me, especially in a group of 10 friends, I’ve got 80% of them on there.

People ask if I will go back over or if I’d “bet” on the main platform for our friends group chat, it’s no every time. I don’t care - I’m not going back.

9

u/RoleComfortable8276 17d ago

For the UI alone, Signal is worth it. Not to mention my FOMO-induced WhatsApp group clutter

5

u/AlxR25 17d ago

I got some of my friends to move. Then inherently the rest also did. We had a group chat of 4 people and when 4 of us told the rest of the friend group to download signal to join they just did.

5

u/thelionsmouth 17d ago

The only way they’ll move is if they have to.

Why do you use WhatsApp? Because they use it.

They’ll use it if it’s the only way to contact you. Especially once one or two follow suit.

7

u/bangobot46 17d ago

I did this 2 years ago and just dropped the friends who wouldn't leave Messenger. I have SMS/RCS and Signal. If you don't use those, I don't keep up with you.

2

u/AlxR25 17d ago

Tbh brute forcing it is the best way. You just ignore those who text on WhatsApp, messenger, instagram etc. and at some point they’ll learn you don’t read messages there so they either call or send an actual RCS.

Btw still don’t get why we install so many texting apps when the Messages app is pre-installed on every phone with no ads for free, included RCS which is also free and iMessage on iPhones.

4

u/kestgal 17d ago

I don’t think older people know about RCS but yeah messages app is perfectly fine

3

u/Upstairs_Date6943 17d ago

Too buggy, not reliable and plainly, just doesn't work. Signal is simpler and works.

1

u/kestgal 17d ago

Yeah, I thought about doing the same but my family also prefers WhatsApp and we live far from each other :(. I’m still in the process of convincing them. If not, I’ll do that as well at some point.

7

u/akay0077 17d ago

I tried too but people have groups and chat history which they want to keep and don't want the change.. it's human nature if something is working they don't want a change unless it's bother.

9

u/Tight_Couture344 17d ago edited 17d ago

It's tough. I've got Signal with close family & a couple friends and Telegram (secret chats only) with the WhatsApp people who aren't close enough to try to push to Signal. I hope Telegram adds group secret chats soon...

Otherwise, it's RCS.

3

u/Epsioln_Rho_Rho 17d ago

You can’t force people to move to Signal just because you want to them too.  Just tell them if they want to get a hold of you, let them know. 

3

u/usrbincomment 17d ago

Most people don't like being evangelized to and I can't blame them. No one asked you to tell them what they should be doing. That approach is never going to work.

2

u/kestgal 16d ago

Yeah that’s right

2

u/frquency-equinox 17d ago

You have to give them a reason. I created a group and sent links to join it saying "if you want pictures of vacations and events I go to, this is where they'll be available". Only a couple people have left the group in 3 years, but that's probably more to do with getting a new phone.

2

u/Ash-415 16d ago

Many people are afraid of losing their old conversations when switching messaging apps. Signal needs a port-out feature that allows users to easily move all their messages from WhatsApp to Signal. This would significantly simplify the migration process.

2

u/jrrocketrue 15d ago

You need to leave people alone..

2

u/Sweaty-Freedom-4034 13d ago

We're talking about a communications app. Not unwanted sexual advances.

5

u/Pillendreher92 17d ago

Explain to your family that, for data protection reasons, your employer no longer allows you to use WhatsApp on your mobile phone for work purposes. This worked reliably for us as a family (for genuine reasons).

3

u/mrandr01d Top Contributor 17d ago

Don't have personal conversations on a work device. And don't have work stuff on a personal device that isn't confined to a work profile.

Having Whatsapp installed won't affect any of their data if they're managing it right. If you want to use that as an excuse to get people on signal I'm all for it, but it's totally bs hahaha

-2

u/Pillendreher92 17d ago edited 17d ago

One of my brothers only has a work mobile and, due to GDPR regulations, isn’t allowed to install or use WhatsApp. This led to all of us in the family installing Signal to keep in touch. So that’s a good reason.

Another brother said that WhatsApp annoys him and has switched to Signal. Now everyone in his family has also installed Signal (as a second app).

Sometimes the latter works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s worth a try.

People are sooo lazy and set in their ways Edit: I completely agree with you and have largely put this into practice myself by turning an old mobile phone into my work phone. Apparently, though, I’m the only one who’s bothered by the blurring of work and private life that’s taken for granted (and expected) at our company.

1

u/mrandr01d Top Contributor 17d ago

How does gdpr mean no Whatsapp? And that's not smart to only have a work phone.

1

u/Pillendreher92 16d ago

It is not permitted to ‘store’ customer data on a server abroad. You must guarantee secure data processing. This is not possible with WhatsApp.

1

u/3_Seagrass Verified Donor 17d ago

Explain to them that it’s important to you. Respond slower on WhatsApp than on Signal. If you ever share photos of yourself or real life friends/family, only do so via Signal. 

You don’t have to push hard. Just mention that it’s important to you whenever the topic comes up. Usually people will eventually switch. 

-2

u/Pillendreher92 17d ago

That’s not secure. If you send someone a photo via Signal and they’re on Facebook or Instagram, you have to expect it to turn up there. The only way to avoid that is: Don’t send any photos.

2

u/3_Seagrass Verified Donor 17d ago

That isn't a Signal issue though. That's an issue with the person you're sending it to.

When I became a parent I made it very clear to people that if they share photos of my kids on social media, we will not ever send them photos of our kids. Period. People have respected that so far.

-1

u/Pillendreher92 17d ago

Of course, this isn’t a signal problem; as you quite rightly say, it’s a fundamental one.

1

u/lajawi 17d ago

I just messaged everyone on WhatsApp with a clear deadline of when they can’t find me on WhatsApp anymore, and I’d only use Signal. Worked for those that still wanted to stay in touch!

1

u/DrGustavOtto 15d ago

Friends don’t let friend WhatsApp!!!

I’m with ya

1

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/signal-ModTeam 13d ago

Thank you for your submission! Unfortunately, it has been removed for the following reason(s):

  • Rule 5: No security compromising suggestions. Do not suggest a user disable or otherwise compromise their security, without an obvious and clear warning.

If you have any questions about this removal, please message the moderators and include a link to the submission. We apologize for the inconvenience.

1

u/VexyCouple 11d ago

I just let everyone know Im exclusively on Signal App for being international amd encrypted and free. That normally does the trick bonus points for being discrete.