Poll of the week: Did you agree to the WhatsApp terms and conditions?

Last Saturday was an important date for all Messenger fans, because on May 15, the controversial terms and conditions on WhatsApp came into force. And we asked our community on the subject. The results you find out below.

Evaluation of the first question: You prefer to keep your feet on the ground

Our survey was published on Friday, one day before the planned entry into force of the terms and conditions. Thus, most users should at least have mentally decided whether to agree to the changes. As you can see in the following statistics, there is a tendency against the terms and conditions in all countries.

In Brazil, Germany and France the rejection of the T&C is between 50% and 75% - on the COM domain even between 75 and 100%. What we cannot collect with this survey is the question of why you have not yet voted.

So have you switched to an alternative or did you really want to wait until May 15th if something changes? To find out, I added a second survey.

Evaluation of the second survey: You are leaving the sinking ship

When it came to answering the question of whether you left WhatsApp due to the new terms and conditions, the alternatives were of course in the foreground. In the past few weeks, user records for Signal, Telegram and Co. have been propagated again and again in the media. Looking at our diagram, the messages seem quite realistic!

In all countries where NextPit is read, the switch to an alternative is at the fore. That will surely be largely due to our excellent article on WhatsApp alternatives! Joking aside, France has the most loyal WhatsApp fans. This is a little strange, as many users voted in the previous survey that they had not yet accepted the new terms and conditions.

Alternative messengers are really popular. If you voted for the first answer in the poll, you were spoiled for choice. If you still want to switch, don't miss the third survey.

Evaluation of the third survey: Signal vs. Telegram

Because in the end I wanted to know from you which messenger you want to use instead of WhatsApp. I used the most popular messengers in the Google Play Store as a guide and also included Apple's iMessage. As expected, the candidates Telegram and Signal won the race.

The Messenger Signal is popular in France, Germany, and on COM domain. The focus here is on data protection and that is exactly what many criticize WhatsApp. The app is also visually reminiscent of the popular Facebook Messenger.

Brazil is a special case here, as Telegram won there with a clear majority. Numbers from Statista confirm this once again. The NextPit team for the Brazilian market told me in this regard that the Signal app is available in Brazil, but is still niche.

Conclusion: data protection vs. nihilism

What we could find out in our quantitative survey here on NextPit is nothing new! Many people who are already interested in technology are turning away from the messenger. They find out about the best alternatives and then switch over to Signal or Telegram. More exciting than the numbers are, of course, the motives for the change.

In the comments below our survey, the protection of your data is mentioned on the one hand and the protest against the way Facebook treats its customers. Avoiding WhatsApp is therefore also of a political nature and addresses many aspects that our colleague Fabian Roehlinger addresses in his article on Apple's pioneering role in terms of data protection:

• Smartphones and privacy: Why Apple is leading the way

Those of you who care about your data and, above all, the behavior of the gigantic tech companies, then meet those users who I call "tech nihilists". Tech nihilists like statements like "Facebook is too powerful to change anything", "It is no longer possible to protect your data anyway" or "Let them have, I have nothing to hide". So if everything is pointless anyway, why bother?

Since I am currently in the mode of a silent observer, I leave out my opinion for a moment. From a purely technical point of view, this powerlessness that many feel in relation to the Internet is completely illusory. In the past, everyone had the opportunity to opt out of WhatsApp and everyone could have protested the much-criticized purchase of the messenger by Facebook by switching to an alternative.

Anyone can protect their data in the network if they just take the trouble. And everyone can reach their friends and family even without WhatsApp, even if they don't want to switch.

The problem here, unfortunately, is the convenience, for which I cannot really criticize anyone. Unfortunately, we get used to things much faster than we can wean ourselves from them. In addition, in the last year, we have weaned ourselves off from many things that were otherwise taken for granted. Facebook's timing to make critical changes to the world's most important messenger while everyone is at home couldn't be better!

But we are by no means passed out and that is also the reason why WhatsApp tries so hard to calm down angry users. We are not dependent on Facebook, but Facebook is dependent on us. And with that, I thank you for providing me with the data for this very, very interesting survey!

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Original article (14.05.2021):

According to WhatsApp, the vast majority of WhatsApp users have already agreed to the new terms and conditions. But is that also true for the NextPit community or have you looked around for alternatives in time? That's exactly what we want to find out in our poll of the week.

Anyone who has ventured online in any form in the last few days will have noticed: WhatsApp has started a first-class shit storm with the new changes to its terms and conditions! Of course, we have also reported on it and compiled a detailed overview of all the changes to the terms and conditions.

The deadline for acceptance is May 15, but as the date has been known for quite some time now, we want to know if you've already made up your mind.

Question 1: Have you accepted the new T&Cs?

According to WhatsApp, the new terms of service are primarily intended to simplify communication between private individuals and companies. However, by accepting them, you also allow the company to share more user data with Facebook, which is exactly why many users and experts see the changes as critical.

WhatsApp said in a statement that "a majority of users have accepted the new terms". In my private circle of friends and acquaintances, I also see few users who have switched to a WhatsApp alternative. So how is it with you guys?

Personally, I've been holding off on accepting the new T&Cs. Typical procrastination of responsibility but I think eventually I will be forced to agree to the terms. Attempts to convince key social contacts to switch have already failed. But speaking of alternatives.

Question 2: Have you switched to an alternative?

In the comments under our WhatsApp articles, I kept reading preferences for certain messengers. The fact that Elon Musk is in favor of the free alternative Signal is no longer a secret after his Twitter message in January.

As we wrote in an older article, Signal has also made a real effort to become interesting for WhatsApp skeptics. In doing so, it is truly not difficult to outdo the meager feature set and design of the popular messenger. A topic that we go into detail again in our reasons against WhatsApp.

First, I would like to ask you a second question: Have you switched to an alternative because of the new T&Cs, do you want to stay with WhatsApp or have you sworn off the messenger before or never used it?

I can already see the cool kids bragging in the comments that they never used WhatsApp! But please don't bash WhatsApp advocates in the comments. If you like the app, only use it to reach your friends and sacrifice a little privacy for it, you have a right to do so!

Question 3: Which alternative did you switch to?

Last but not least, as part of our poll of the week, we can pick one app to emerge as the winner from the whole WhatsApp mess. Which messenger app do you think is the best alternative? It's not necessarily about which messenger you use, so I haven't enabled multiple choices.

Again, to take the wind out of the sails of those readers who prefer to communicate with a galvanic telegraph, I've picked out and listed the 10 most popular messengers from the Google Play Store above. For Apple fans, I've also listed iMessage, of course, and for everything else, there's the "Other" column!

Even though the whole WhatsApp issue is a contentious topic, I would like to know your motivations for switching or staying with WhatsApp in the comments. I myself believe that the social component plays a bigger role than many users think. So stay objective, friends!