Almost nobody I know uses WhatsApp. On the other hand, a significant number of people I meet do have iMessage. There's no incentive for me to install WhatsApp. Even my friends internationally all have iPhones. I don't install third-party apps unless there is a very good reason. SMS is an inferior but acceptable fallback for edge cases.
This is a subthread about someone not from the US being surprised at the messaging habits of people in the US, so I think quoting a stat about iPhone/iMessage penetration in the US is perfectly relevant. The US "bubble" is the only one that matters in this particular conversation, as it's specifically what this conversation is about.
Nothing in the comment I've replied to quotes a stat or references the US, and nothing in the grandparent comment references stats or talks about the habits of the US specifically either. I'm also not questioning the relevance of any posted stats. I'm really confused by this comment, is it a mis post from another thread?
Not sure what you mean. The originator of this thread[0] is mostly talking about being surprised at US messaging habits.
Agreed that the person you replied to did not specifically mention the US, but their comment is consistent with a US user's experience, which makes sense since the thread is about US messaging.
> I still don't get why people use SMS/MMS anyway?
Someone responds:
> [I use SMS/MMS because] Almost nobody I know uses WhatsApp.
You respond:
> Your bubble is not representative of the whole world though.
Not only did the responder not claim for their bubble to represent the world, but it doesn't matter in any case. The set of people they'll be messaging on their phone is largely constrained to their "bubble." If nobody in their bubble uses WhatsApp, then why would they install WhatsApp?
As for the meta discussion revolving around the US: just because nobody mentioned it doesn't mean that's not obviously the central focus of this comment thread. If someone's bubble contains no WhatsApp users, you can be 99% sure that they are American. The US is the main place where platforms like WhatsApp have not been widely adopted. iPhones are extremely popular there, and iMessage is widely used. It's a country of over 300 million people where the vast majority of residents don't communicate with people outside the country.
This comment comes from a position of privilege and power. Not everyone can afford iPhones and neither is a value-for-money at those prices. If all your international friends are also using iPhones, then you are definitely in a very special bubble.
