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I got a new job. whatsapp group (20 people) is migrating to signal because I don't use it. (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 months ago by GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I understand that it may be problematic sometimes but this was very smooth. I didn't even say anything.

A: what's your number for the whatsapp group Me: I don't have whatsapp because of facebook. B: ok, we have to use signal then A: ok

And that was it. Life can be very easy sometimes

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[-] Asudox@lemmy.world 258 points 3 months ago

Surprised that happened. Very rare to see that these days.

[-] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 109 points 3 months ago

Maybe OP works on infosec and the team was like yeah, makes sense?

[-] GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml 118 points 3 months ago

Let's say I work in an IT area (but not infosec)

[-] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 21 points 3 months ago

Should have used Matrix

[-] independantiste@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 months ago

For a team of 20 people matrix is way overkill imo

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[-] delirious_owl@discuss.online 7 points 3 months ago

I'm going to join OP's company next and say I can't use signal because phone companies. Then they'll upgrade to Wire or Matrix

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[-] Asudox@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

They only realized that when he said that? What a weird infosec team. I guess they also could use SimpleX if they wanted the most secure, private and anonymous option, but I think Signal is pretty well balanced as a messenger. Good privacy and usability.

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[-] GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml 25 points 3 months ago

There may have been discussions around it beforehand. I didn't ask why it went so smooth.

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 8 points 3 months ago

What you didn't realize is that your value to the company is way more than you realized.

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[-] Damage@feddit.it 183 points 3 months ago

At first from the title it seemed like they changed app to avoid you

[-] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 51 points 3 months ago

yeah, that was funny. Creating a group without OP wasn't enough, they had to change apps lol

[-] DharkStare@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago

That's exactly what I thought as well from reading the headline. It definitely could have been worded better.

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[-] MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml 87 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Before Signal made the boneheaded move of removing SMS support, it was so much easier for me to pitch the idea of using Signal to my friends and family, most of which eventually did make the shift from SMS to Signal messages for reasons like ease of use when it came to group chats, sending images/videos, voice clips, etc.

But now? Now it's one of those embarrassing moments where I hear back from people basically all saying "your tech recommendations are usually on point but uh, what happened with Signal???" because the app just abruptly stopped supporting SMS and ruined the seamless appeal. SMS support was the perfect way to ease people into shifting towards Signal messages and now the only damn people I know who still know Signal are my most privacy-minded friends/family, while everyone else has switched back to WhatsApp.

Clearly I'm not bitter...😅 But I mean like, come on. I had the most notorious luddites in my social circle make the switch to Signal and they loved it. The shift from SMS to Signal messages was so smooth so many of them didn't even have that "I miss [SMS stuff]", plus they LOVED that Signal could be used on their laptops in addition to their phones. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this annoys me so much.

[-] akilou@sh.itjust.works 25 points 3 months ago

I totally agree. And to make matters worse, one of their arguments was that supporting SMS was taking resources away from developing other features. But what mind blowing features have come out since they dropped SMS? Usernames, I guess, which they were working on anyway. New app icons...

[-] BaroqueInMind@lemmy.ml 16 points 3 months ago

Why did they remove SMS support?

[-] ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world 44 points 3 months ago

Think it was related to the messages being insecure and signal didn’t want people to be confused.

If your using signal your messages should be secure. SMS messages aren’t secure. It may have been clear to you when Signal send an sms or an encrypted message, but they need to cater to everyone.

[-] doctortran@lemm.ee 19 points 3 months ago

That just feels like shooting themselves in the foot. Just inform the user SMS isn't secure. That's it.

Not being willing to trust the user with the information so they can make a choice is asinine. It's the same reason why I stopped using Tuta. Complete privacy and security are great but if there's no option to make things a little more open for the sake of convenience or interconnectivity, I'm just not interested.

Security and privacy shouldn't be a prison.

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[-] ulterno@lemmy.kde.social 75 points 3 months ago

I have a feeling B wanted to use Signal, but expected it to be difficult to make others shift. When OP gave the opportunity, B came in and swyped it right away,

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[-] merc@sh.itjust.works 55 points 3 months ago

This headline sounds a lot funnier if you assume "it" means Signal, like I did.

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[-] xelar@lemmy.ml 45 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Still, you were lucky that your colleagues are aware of alternatives and will use it (I hope). I wonder though if people will migrate because of you. Its tough to encourage others to communicate Signal while majority use Messenger or Whatsapp. Their reasoning for that is the most friends and family member are on mainstream solutions.

Signal is an interim solution imo for most people, which I also recommend. Not too extreme, not to "geeky", which introduces them to alternative app world.

[-] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 24 points 3 months ago

What did you do to offend them?

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[-] Kit 23 points 3 months ago

Why would a workplace need a group chat? Aren't there any enterprise tools in place to achieve that?

[-] just_an_average_joe@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 3 months ago

Small companies and startups like to save money

[-] Baggins@feddit.uk 10 points 3 months ago

Cannot access work intranet (Teams etc.) from personal phones. Don't have work phones. They all use WhatsApp so reluctantly, so do I.

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[-] Today@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago

I wish my family was that easy to change, and there are only five of us.

[-] communism@lemmy.ml 15 points 3 months ago

In all my years of not using WhatsApp this has never happened to me lol. At best I've gotten some people to message me individually on Signal but not entire groups

[-] clot27@lemm.ee 14 points 3 months ago

Wow, congrats.

[-] ulterno@lemmy.kde.social 13 points 3 months ago

Do you have a vacancy?

[-] LEVI@feddit.org 12 points 3 months ago

these 20 people are awesome :D

[-] jbk@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 3 months ago

dream team

[-] halvar@lemm.ee 12 points 3 months ago

Sure and then Santa gave everyone free librebooted thinkpads.

[-] frengo_@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago

And i can’t even convince my family…

[-] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 11 points 3 months ago

I convinced my family by telling them I won't use anything else. Use Signal or don't talk to me. Win win

[-] frengo_@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago

They Uno Reversed this on me. “We’re already on Whatsapp, you’re isolating yourself”

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[-] electronVolt@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 months ago

Heck yeah! I got a small work group to use Element instead of slack or discord once. I was so proud of them. Kudos for you.

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 months ago

Damn...

You must be really good

[-] ReakDuck@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 months ago

People dont install Signal for me, especially feo groups. They use arguments like "yeah, and I also might have reasons not to use Signal like I do with Whatsapp"

Kinda disrespectful to put a line against a data selling app and comparing it to "nah, I just dont wanna"

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[-] SLfgb@feddit.nl 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Signal is so bloated compared to Conversations on Android. Also it's a walled garden requiring your ph number to register (edit: and requires owning a smart phone👎). Based in the US so not great for privacy. Marginally better than Whatsapp suppose.

Edit: and it requires a smart phone.

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[-] krolden@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 months ago

Now tell them you just switched to matrix and see if they'll follow

[-] GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml 58 points 3 months ago

Never abuse kind people. That's what breaks them.

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[-] GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml 14 points 3 months ago

I don't have to. Matrix is coming anyway. It's not an if but a when.

For official (internal) company communication though I will advertise matrix instead of signal. I'll report back once I've talked to the right people about it.

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this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024

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