People got tricked by capitalism again: too much advertising, false promises, and fake convenience, only to take the same bait again and again.

Email already has everything needed for proper, clean, universal communication.

People could simply improve it with proper thread sorting, contact management, mailing lists, chats, and groups. But nobody seems to care, because big companies want to pull users onto their so-called platforms, take their money and personal data, and keep them hooked.

Email gives people much more: a universal open standard, self-hosting, the freedom to choose any provider and migrate easily, no required apps or platform blocks, and easy control over their own data.

I can see the usual crowd effect here, together with the illusion that simplification always means improvement. First, a few fools installed WhatsApp because they thought it was fashionable and easy. Then more people followed them. Eventually, even sensible people were forced to install this garbage because EVERYONE WAS ALREADY THERE.

Two comments from the internet:

joe_mamba:

“I have messenger app fatigue at this point, at least where I live.

Doctors’ offices and official services use SMS.

Some of my close family and friends use Signal, at my insistence.

Distant boomers use Facebook Messenger.

Younger people use Snapchat.

Almost everyone else in the country uses WhatsApp, as that is the dominant messaging app.

My friends who live in Berlin use Telegram.

Online communities for tinkering and FOSS projects require Discord.

God, I miss the 2000s.”

jjav:

“Having to check 27 different places for messages, including individual sites like LinkedIn where people can message you, is completely ridiculous.

Just send me an email. It is universal and standardized, and no corporation owns it. No corporation can shut me out, unlike Facebook or other proprietary services.”